The Financial Post reports in its Tuesday edition that Donald Trump is set to begin his second term in the White House surrounded by China hawks. A Financial Times of London item inside the Post says that his pick for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has campaigned against Chinese influence and championed crackdowns on Huawei and others. However, one of the president-elect's closest advisers, Elon Musk, has close ties with China. The self-styled "first buddy" to Mr. Trump has emerged as a potentially significant yet unpredictable player in the relationship between the world's two superpowers. Mr. Musk's business empire sits across a minefield of possible conflicts on issues including the future of Taiwan. He has deep connections to top Chinese Communist Party leaders, and is in the middle of lobbying Beijing over decisions for his $1-trillion (U.S.) electric vehicle business, Tesla. Tesla has received billions of dollars in cheap loans, subsidies and tax breaks from the Chinese government. Its Shanghai factory supplies Teslas for both export and the domestic Chinese market. On the optimistic side, Mr. Musk could provide a "critical bridge" between China and the Trump administration, says investment bank Jefferies.