The board has close ties to musk. His brother is on the board. That’s why they will always pay the guy.

Agreed. They’d also have to be pretty sure they’d make up the deficit from potential sanctions/lost exports. [https://trendeconomy.com/data/h2?commodity=TOTAL&reporter=China&trade_flow=Export,Import&partner=World&indicator=TV,YoY&time_period=2021,2022](20% of their GDP is exports ) with the US, Japan, and Korea making up close to 25% of that.

It’s probably why they are watching Russia so closely and investing in Africa heavily.