It's an attitude he's had for a while. Previously Musk said that "China rocks" and that Americans are full of "complacency and entitlement especially in places

It's an attitude he's had for a while. Previously Musk said that "China rocks" and that Americans are full of "complacency and entitlement especially in places like the Bay Area, and L.A. and New York": https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/31/tesla-ceo-elon-musk-china-rocks-us-full-of-entitlement.html https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/31/tesla-ceo-elon-musk-china-ro... Musk called California "fascist" for its covid measures: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/29/elon-musk-slams-coronavirus-shelter-in-place-orders-as-fascist.html https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/29/elon-musk-slams-coronavirus-... But Musk had Tesla praise China for its covid measures announcing that Tesla "always strived to fulfil its epidemic prevention responsibilities and that it believed Shanghai's COVID-19 measures helped lay the foundation for the city's future development": https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-suspends-production-shanghai-factory-4-days-comply-with-covid-curbs-2022-03-28/ https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-... Musk is quite happy to jump as high as China tells him to.