Tim Draper Touts Decision to Pull Out of China
TAIPEI—
Tim Draper,
a venture capitalist known for his early bets in Elon Musk’s
Tesla Inc.
TSLA -2.01%
and SpaceX, is feeling good about his decision to stop investing in China.
In an interview in Taiwan, where he is pursuing new investments, Mr. Draper slammed China’s
Xi Jinping,
whom he called a “weak leader,” saying the country is going backward after more than four decades of former leader Deng Xiaoping’s “reform and opening up” policy.
“It’s not a place where you invest money to get a return,” he said. “I see China as a place where the government is trying to control everybody.”
An early investor in
Baidu Inc.
BIDU 5.10%
—China’s equivalent of Google—Mr. Draper said he pulled out completely and froze investment in the country around 2014 after a startup he had invested in was fined by regulators. It was a sign, he said, of the government’s increasing interference in the market.
In the years since, Mr. Xi has launched a sweeping campaign to corral the ambitions of China’s most successful internet companies and reassert state control over the economy.
Mr. Draper said he is now looking toward Taiwan, a democratic island lying 110 miles across the Taiwan Strait from the Chinese mainland that the Communist Party claims as part of China, despite never having ruled there.
The American investor spoke while traveling to Taipei to meet with senior government officials and to film his reality TV show, “Meet The Drapers.” At the same time, President Biden was conducting his first face-to-face meeting with Mr. Xi as heads of state, on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Bali. The meeting between the two leaders helped re-establish severed lines of communication between the world’s two superpowers and signaled a new phase in the relationship focused on preventing conflict rather than promoting trade.
Mr. Draper at the National Space Organization in Hsinchu, Taiwan.
Photo:
ANN WANG/REUTERS
Tensions between Washington and Beijing have been running high, especially after U.S. House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi
paid a whirlwind visit to Taiwan in August, prompting China’s military to briefly encircle the self-ruled island with a flurry of jet fighters, warships and missiles.
“There is a big dark cloud hanging over Taiwan, which is President Xi,” Mr. Draper said, referring to Communist Party threats to take control of the island of 23 million, by force if necessary. But he said Taiwan derives a measure of protection from its strategic importance, noting the presence of
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
, the world’s largest contract chip maker.
“It’s so important to everyone around the world,” he said. “I don’t think the free world is going to want to give it up.”
Mr. Draper’s fund made its first investments in Taiwan last year, when it bought stakes in Taipei-based digital news company TNL Media Group and other startups. He said he would continue to invest in the island, which he believes will attract frustrated entrepreneurs from China with its openness.
“I’m coming to Taiwan. I’m not going to China,” he said, praising the democracy’s “freedom and trust.”
In his support for Taiwan, Mr. Draper differs with Mr. Musk. The Tesla chief executive and new owner of Twitter Inc., whose business fortunes are partly linked to Tesla’s sprawling operations in China, said in an interview with the Financial Times in October that China should “figure out a special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable.” The comment elicited praise from China’s ambassador to the U.S.
“He’s done so many great things for the world,” Mr. Draper said of Mr. Musk, whom he described “as one of the most brilliant people in the world.” On Taiwan, however, “I think there, I disagree,” the investor said.
Write to Joyu Wang at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
TAIPEI—
Tim Draper,
a venture capitalist known for his early bets in Elon Musk’s
Tesla Inc.
TSLA -2.01%
and SpaceX, is feeling good about his decision to stop investing in China.
In an interview in Taiwan, where he is pursuing new investments, Mr. Draper slammed China’s
Xi Jinping,
whom he called a “weak leader,” saying the country is going backward after more than four decades of former leader Deng Xiaoping’s “reform and opening up” policy.
“It’s not a place where you invest money to get a return,” he said. “I see China as a place where the government is trying to control everybody.”
An early investor in
Baidu Inc.
BIDU 5.10%
—China’s equivalent of Google—Mr. Draper said he pulled out completely and froze investment in the country around 2014 after a startup he had invested in was fined by regulators. It was a sign, he said, of the government’s increasing interference in the market.
In the years since, Mr. Xi has launched a sweeping campaign to corral the ambitions of China’s most successful internet companies and reassert state control over the economy.
Mr. Draper said he is now looking toward Taiwan, a democratic island lying 110 miles across the Taiwan Strait from the Chinese mainland that the Communist Party claims as part of China, despite never having ruled there.
The American investor spoke while traveling to Taipei to meet with senior government officials and to film his reality TV show, “Meet The Drapers.” At the same time, President Biden was conducting his first face-to-face meeting with Mr. Xi as heads of state, on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Bali. The meeting between the two leaders helped re-establish severed lines of communication between the world’s two superpowers and signaled a new phase in the relationship focused on preventing conflict rather than promoting trade.
Mr. Draper at the National Space Organization in Hsinchu, Taiwan.
Photo:
ANN WANG/REUTERS
Tensions between Washington and Beijing have been running high, especially after U.S. House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi
paid a whirlwind visit to Taiwan in August, prompting China’s military to briefly encircle the self-ruled island with a flurry of jet fighters, warships and missiles.
“There is a big dark cloud hanging over Taiwan, which is President Xi,” Mr. Draper said, referring to Communist Party threats to take control of the island of 23 million, by force if necessary. But he said Taiwan derives a measure of protection from its strategic importance, noting the presence of
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
, the world’s largest contract chip maker.
“It’s so important to everyone around the world,” he said. “I don’t think the free world is going to want to give it up.”
Mr. Draper’s fund made its first investments in Taiwan last year, when it bought stakes in Taipei-based digital news company TNL Media Group and other startups. He said he would continue to invest in the island, which he believes will attract frustrated entrepreneurs from China with its openness.
“I’m coming to Taiwan. I’m not going to China,” he said, praising the democracy’s “freedom and trust.”
In his support for Taiwan, Mr. Draper differs with Mr. Musk. The Tesla chief executive and new owner of Twitter Inc., whose business fortunes are partly linked to Tesla’s sprawling operations in China, said in an interview with the Financial Times in October that China should “figure out a special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable.” The comment elicited praise from China’s ambassador to the U.S.
“He’s done so many great things for the world,” Mr. Draper said of Mr. Musk, whom he described “as one of the most brilliant people in the world.” On Taiwan, however, “I think there, I disagree,” the investor said.
Write to Joyu Wang at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Denial of responsibility! Techno Blender is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.