[HN Gopher] Why China Turned Against Jack Ma
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Why China Turned Against Jack Ma
Author : bookofjoe
Score : 31 points
Date : 2020-12-25 22:15 UTC (44 minutes ago)
(HTM) web link (www.nytimes.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.nytimes.com)
| webwielder2 wrote:
| Same reason religions are tamped down under authoritarian
| communist regimes? Nothing must overshadow the Party.
| underseacables wrote:
| Ma didn't just overshadow the party, he overshadowed the
| Chairman of the party.
| mc32 wrote:
| His problem is he would not subjugate to the true center of
| power, possibly by overplaying his hand and underestimating the
| need of the party to exercise supreme control and its refusal to
| share power.
| julianlam wrote:
| That's the question at the center of all this, isn't it. Who
| actually holds the power here, the state, or the company whose
| information they hold could severely embarrass anyone who
| opposes them?
|
| I can't even begin to imagine what similar companies in NA
| (e.g. Facebook) have on our elected officials.
| hnracer wrote:
| Are there examples of large private companies releasing
| compromising information on elected officials in response to
| political threats or pressure?
| ethbr0 wrote:
| If one's willing to entertain conspiracy theories, none of
| that material would be put out under FAAMG branding, but
| rather lesser outlets would conveniently obtain a copy.
|
| That said, the idea is pretty hard in the way of conspiracy
| -- simplest reduction: why would tech companies take the
| risk of getting involved in that way at all? When they're
| already making money hand over fist?
| Cyph0n wrote:
| The Church of Scientology debacle is a good example.
| justicezyx wrote:
| Did US turn against Google and Facebook? I think so. The trend is
| clear, the Internet giants are becoming so powerful that
| government feels threatened and cornered.
| bookofjoe wrote:
| When I remarked on Twitter about 10 years ago that Mark
| Zuckerberg was the most powerful person on earth, I got
| attacked big-time.
| simonh wrote:
| Power to do what?
|
| That's not an attack, I just don't know what you mean by
| power.
| ngokevin wrote:
| IMO, essentially mind control and subtle influence of
| people's decisions and stance on everything, including the
| outcome of elections.
| amelius wrote:
| Power to swing elections?
| konjin wrote:
| The difference is that the worst that can happen to Zuck et al
| is having their company split up and paying more in taxes.
|
| Ma on the other hand could well end up getting Epsteined.
| hnracer wrote:
| And that's not a small difference, it's the difference
| between a liberal democracy (with its many mistakes and
| flaws) and an authoritarian dictatorship. The both-sides
| fallacy should be avoided here and elsewhere.
| starkd wrote:
| Because the arrogance of the ccp has finally shown itself.
| varjag wrote:
| This sounds much like astroturfed campaigns typical in
| authoritarian states once a public figure is deemed the enemy.
| It's wild how Western reporters take the "peoples comments" at
| face value.
| underseacables wrote:
| Western reporters treat China the same way Silicon Valley
| reporters treat major tech companies. The reporters are afraid
| of upsetting them out of fear of retribution.
| ngokevin wrote:
| From what I've seen, all the media (and thus the majority of
| American people) 100% rag on China any chance they can get.
| They are public enemy number one, and anti-China sentiments
| are popular and applauded. I don't remember the last time
| I've seen positive articles about China.
| underseacables wrote:
| I don't remember the last time China did anything that
| warranted a positive article. That is likely a direct
| result of the authoritarian control China holds on
| information. How do you report something positive when you
| can't trust the source? At least in America journalists can
| say whatever they want. In China, they'll be arrested,
| disappeared, and who knows what other barbaric acts of
| punishment.
|
| Simply put, by its very nature China instills mistrust,
| distrust, and critique.
| apsec112 wrote:
| A lot of tech company reporters seem to write nothing _but_
| negative articles. David Streitfeld, for example, wrote
| nothing but negative pieces every week or two for years, at
| least the last time I checked pre-pandemic.
| underseacables wrote:
| I contend that it's well known in the tech community that
| if you bash Apple, you will not get invited to the next
| event. If you criticize a tech company as a tech
| journalist, you're not going to get invited to the next
| unveiling, the next product release, and that will have a
| detrimental impact on your career. Some can ride that line
| without worry, but rank and file tech reporters DEPEND on
| access, and will not do anything to disrupt it.
| skybrian wrote:
| I don't know why you think that given all the negative press
| that big tech has been getting for at least five years.
| hnracer wrote:
| It's wild and rather irresponsible given the censorship and
| surveillance that people in China are subjected to.
| tehjoker wrote:
| tbf this is pretty similar to what the left in the US says
| about billionaires. I wouldn't completely discount it as state
| propaganda.
|
| In the US, it is incredible how often reporters parrot security
| state talking points without any research into whether they're
| accurate, such as how people piled on Russia after the recent
| hacking scandal without any evidence shown, just a gut
| insinuation as far as I know.
|
| The only advice I can give is: always be skeptical. period.
| karmasimida wrote:
| Both are true.
|
| Jack Ma was a governmental sponsored big tech monopoly that
| hated by many small merchants.
|
| Now the government decided to punish Alibaba, so the crowds
| cheered, for whom the saddest part is the whole thing has
| little to do with them from start to end
| konjin wrote:
| Go at a homeless camp in SF and look around for someone who
| hates Google because their old rent controlled unit got sold.
|
| No astroturf needed to find people who hate the rich in a
| society that punishes the poor.
| underseacables wrote:
| He started making more money than the politicians.
| H8crilA wrote:
| Ant Finance was incredibly "predatory" in how it was issuing high
| interest loans to poor people, at least in the CCP perception.
| They do not allow such things. It's that simple, it's detest for
| "payday loans".
| karmasimida wrote:
| Ant Finance can't take the profit and offload the risk to the
| bank system.
|
| That is not how finance works in any country
| chaostheory wrote:
| I don't think Ma was old enough to remember living under an
| emperor like Mao. Maybe he doesn't realize that Xi is one now?
|
| Xi's reign is bad for China's progress, but good for every other
| country. China will become more centralized and bad laws will be
| enforced which will disrupt all progress towards innovation. The
| danger of a Chinese metro surpassing Silicon Valley is gone for
| now.
|
| The longer Xi and his allies rule, the more China will remain
| destined to be a giant copy machine, nothing less and nothing
| more.
| nitwit005 wrote:
| The rising dislike of the tech giants and the anti-trust
| investigations are extremely similar to what is happening in
| Europe and the US, so I don't particularly see why this is some
| sort of surprising thing requiring special explanation.
| hnracer wrote:
| It's the proximity of the situation to Jack Ma's comments that
| tips you off as to the true reason for the actions. It's not
| just normal anti-trust, it is perhaps this combined with an
| attempt to punish any opposition to the CCP or Xi.
| [deleted]
| franklampard wrote:
| Because when a big tech company becomes a monopoly, the
| government will regulate?
|
| It is already a combination of Amazon + PayPal + Instacart +
| Netflix
| neonate wrote:
| https://archive.is/xZlbR
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