China is no longer a place to invest and has left “the free market” under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), said US venture capitalist Tim Draper, an early investor in Tesla Inc and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX).
Draper was also an early and prominent investor in Chinese search engine Baidu Inc (百度), but he is now turning his attention to Taiwan, home to companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker.
“I used to be an investor in China,” he said late on Monday after arriving in Taipei.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
“Then I got an early indication that China was going to leave the free market, and I decided that that was not a place I wanted to invest,” Draper said, without elaborating.
He said he is looking for more opportunities in the space sector, and planned to visit Taiwan’s National Space Organization on Monday night in the tech hub of Hsinchu City.
Draper, whose reality TV show Meet the Drapers just finished its fifth season, said Taiwan was a natural place to look for investments, especially given the stumbling of China’s economy as Xi’s government enacts tough COVID-19 controls.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
In late 2020, China began a crackdown on the once-freewheeling Internet and tech “platform economy,” which includes e-commerce and social media, although the government began easing up this year to try to bolster growth.
China has repeatedly said it remains committed to welcoming foreign investors and opening up. Chinese policymakers last week pledged that growth was still a priority and they would press on with reforms.
Taiwan has a booming tech scene connected to its sprawling semiconductor supply chain. Billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc disclosed a more than US$4.1 billion investment in TSMC stock on Monday.
Xi has been stepping up pressure on Taiwan to accept China’s sovereignty claims, and in August held military drills in waters around the nation after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei.
“I’m just hoping that President Xi hasn’t lost his mind completely,” Draper said, referring to a potential Chinese attack on Taiwan.
Draper is also a big fan of “awesome” Elon Musk, even with the drama swirling around Musk’s takeover of Twitter Inc and investor concerns that it is distracting him from his position as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.
“This is a guy who can get a lot done,” Draper said. “So I think you’ve got a busy person who is getting a lot done, and I’m sure he’s figured out what he’s capable of doing in each place. Good for him.”
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