Xi Jinping’s warning to Chinese billionaires: he is in charge of the party. Even Jack Ma under the ax of the regime
Other than the market and liberalization! Beijing's stop to Jack Ma reminds us that there is nothing in China that is not subject to the regime. The business is successful to the extent that it is attentive to the directives of the Party and respects them without hesitation of any kind. If not, bankruptcy is around the corner
The Communist Party of China is willing to do anything to prevent something or someone from escaping its iron control. It is not only valid for the political and social sphere but also – if not above all – for the economic one. The latest confirmation comes just in these days with the stop imposed on Jack Ma, founder and owner of Alibaba , the Chinese e-commerce giant.
Notice, to begin with, that Jack Ma himself has the Party card in his pocket. A condition common to all Chinese entrepreneurs. In the People's Republic, business is done if, and only if, the all-powerful Party grants its approval. This also applies to the many Scrooge who, in addition to doing good business at home, go around the world to buy companies and strategic assets in foreign countries (Italy obviously included).
Be careful though. There is no separation between politics and economics in China. The business is successful to the extent that it is attentive to the directives of the Party and respects them without hesitation of any kind. Otherwise, bankruptcy is around the corner.
56-year-old Jack Ma, whose real name is Ma Yun, has recently become the richest man in China after founding Alibaba in 1998. His company is competing fiercely with Amazon and other US giants and, not surprisingly, is often referred to as the "Chinese Amazon ". When it went public on the New York Stock Exchange it managed to rake in an impressive $ 25 billion, despite the alarm raised by Donald Trump and his administration.
Until now he seemed perfectly aligned with Xi Jinping, whom he met in 2002 when the current leader was party secretary in Zhejiang province, in whose capital Hangzhou, coincidentally, is the headquarters of Alibaba . Not only. Jack Ma has always accompanied Xi on his official visits to the US, and two years ago he was awarded as one of the members of the Communist Party who contributed most to the development of the People's Republic.
Given the premises, it was thought that the idyll would never end. Instead, the Party has blocked the entry on the stock market of a 37 billion dollar investment designed by Ant , which is the financial arm of Alibaba .
As a result, the Chinese e-commerce giant immediately lost 10 percent on the stock exchanges of Beijing, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, an enormous figure since one fifth of all products sold in China alone pass through the Alibaba platform, not to mention the lucrative business carried out abroad.
The official reason given by the Chinese government is to prevent some companies from acquiring monopoly positions. It would therefore seem a virtuous move, aimed at encouraging free competition (which, however, does not exist in China).
In fact, the Wall Street Journal , based on information from direct Chinese sources, revealed that the motivation is much more "political". The entrepreneur has indeed allowed himself to criticize the functioning of the state banks of the People's Republic, which he compares to "pawn shops". He then called on the government to move towards a rapid modernization of the system based, in his view, on outdated rules.
That was enough to unleash the storm that overwhelmed Alibaba and its owner, even with a party card, Jack Ma. The order came directly from Xi Jinping, very careful to repel any attempt to criticize the omnipotent party al power since 1949.
Basically, it is enough for Xi to frown to undermine a company, no matter how important and strategic it is. In the Chinese system, the last word always belongs to the Communist leadership and, lately, it belongs only to Xi who, after having conquered the secretariat, has accumulated immense power by eliminating any semblance of collegiality in decisions. We will now see if Jack Ma will do self-criticism to get back into the leader's favor.
To those who consider this brief narrative useless, we remind you that the People's Republic proposes itself as a model to be imitated in every field, an alternative to Western liberal democracies. For example, the official press and media of the Party have taken advantage of the American difficulties after the recent presidential elections to exalt, once again, the great stability that the Chinese system guarantees in the face of the disorder that reigns in democratic countries.
Unfortunately there are those in the West who are sensitive to these sirens, and a certain fascination for that model is perceived, in Italy, even in politicians who have government responsibilities. This is a danger that should not be underestimated, since Chinese economic – and even ideological – penetration in our country is still in full swing.
The post Xi Jinping's warning to Chinese billionaires: the party is in charge. Jack Ma under the regime's ax also appeared first on Atlantico Quotidiano .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Atlantico Quotidiano at the URL http://www.atlanticoquotidiano.it/quotidiano/monito-di-xi-jinping-ai-miliardari-cinesi-comanda-il-partito-anche-jack-ma-sotto-la-scure-del-regime/ on Mon, 16 Nov 2020 03:46:00 +0000.