Welcome to today's The India China Newsletter.
Is Jack Ma really missing? That's the story making the news today, after this somewhat breathless headline from Yahoo! Finance, "Chinese billionaire Jack Ma suspected missing", did the rounds on social media all day.
The report centres around the detail, reported by the Financial Times, that the Alibaba founder "failed to appear as scheduled in the final episode of his own talent show, Africa’s Business Heroes, which gives budding African entrepreneurs the chance to compete for a slice of US $1.5 million." An Alibaba spokesperson told the FT the reason was a "schedule conflict".
It's no big secret that Ma's Alibaba Group has been in trouble, following his no-holds-barred speech in Shanghai that upset regulators, which was followed by the last-minute suspension of what was going to be a world-record breaking IPO, and then an investigation into alleged monopolistic behaviour. I wrote about those troubles recently for The Hindu . I would highly recommend this piece by Li Yuan, 'Why China Turned Against Jack Ma', for some great background.
If it's no secret Jack Ma is in trouble, it's still a bit of leap to suggest, as the Yahoo! report does with its headline (and let’s be honest, who reads beyond headlines?), that he may have been disappeared. We, of course, don't know for sure, but it's just as possible he is (sensibly) lying low as investigations take their course. Bloomberg reported recently that Ma was advised to stay in the country last month, ostensibly to assist with those investigations.
I frankly don’t know either way what fate awaits Ma. But it’s worth noting that so far there’s no evidence to suggest he has been accused personally of wrongdoing while his group is under the lens of regulators. Here is what the always clued-in journalist Keith Zhai had to say on Twitter:
"Am I the only one feeling all the conspiracy stories on Jack Ma are silly? He's public speech led the whole disaster. Why would he appear in the public now and what would he say? As of now, he will NOT be charged. Imagine any billionaires or key people dragged into a turmoil like this, do you think the person wants to surge from the water and give random talks?"
If I was Ma, I would lay low too. But as I said, with these things in China you can never know for sure what's up. As the frenzy continues, worth remembering a thumb rule on on such cases that suggests patience is in order and might save you some time: it's never over (or official) until Xinhua sings.
I report in today's The Hindu on some of the takeaways from China's amendments to its national defence law. In yesterday's newsletter, I pointed to Minnie Chan's piece in the South China Morning Post that noted the weakening of the State Council and added powers to the Central Military Commission. The other interesting change to me is a broader definition of what justifies mobilisation, including, the text suggests according to some experts, the defence of China's economic assets overseas.
Praveen Swami has a thought-provoking, as always, piece, on India's China policy in 2021 and the limits and challenges New Delhi faces. "Defending every inch of Indian territory is an idea that has acquired almost theological authority in Indian military minds. Yet, it has led, in the ongoing Ladakh standoff, to resources being committed to territory of no conceivable strategic value," he writes. It’s worth reading in full.
The Economist has a very useful piece on China's war on eliminating extreme poverty. While eliminating extreme poverty as Beijing defines it is certainly no mean feat, the report argues why reducing inequality remains a pressing challenge, and will require different tactics.
The South China Morning Post reports on what's on the agenda as Foreign Minister Wang Yi heads to Africa.
Quarantine for arrivals in Beijing is now 21 days, up from 14 days. There were calls for extending the period after one recent case that was supposedly linked to an international traveller who tested positive a couple of days after he ended his 14 day mandatory hotel stay (which he supposedly left testing negative), although the science remains sketchy on whether this is really required. In any case, China, as has been the consistent trend in its Covid-19 battle, isn't taking any chances.
Sixth Tone has a very interesting piece on the science trends to watch in China in 2021
And Finally…
Here's a video of our man in the news, Jack Ma, in somewhat happier times, crooning a duet with Faye Wong a couple of months ago. The song that was timed to promote the November "Singles Day" shopping festival on Taobao puns on Jack Ma's name (Ma Yun) and has the unfortunate lyrics: 其实云知道,逃不开淘宝的牢
Yun knew that he couldn't escape Taobao's prison...
thanks
Interesting as well as insightful from a trusted journalist/author.
my only request is to keep this paywall free