After Tesla CEO Elon Musk declared Taiwan should become a special administrative region of China, Beijing and Taipei have expressed their disagreement.
The richest man in the world stated in an interview with the Financial Times that he thought the two countries could come to a "fairly agreeable" agreement.
Musk received praise from China's ambassador to the US, while his Taiwanese colleague declared that freedom is "not for sale."
Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory, while Taiwan is self-governing.
Musk received fire this week for posting a Twitter poll with his ideas for putting an end to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, including Kiev ceding land to Moscow.
Mr. Musk made his remarks as the manufacturer of electric vehicles set a monthly sales record in China.
In a lengthy interview with the UK business journal the Financial Times, which was released on Friday, he commented on the escalating China-Taiwan tensions.
"My recommendation... would be to figure out a special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable, probably won't make everyone happy," he said.
"And it's possible, and I think probably, in fact, that they could have an arrangement that's more lenient than Hong Kong."
