Jack Ma Is Missing
nymag.com
nymag.com
What makes you think he didn’t recognize that there was a significant risk of that?
He thought too much of himself and his power. He mixed up the source of his power with his money.
That's great, I wonder that others think of this.
(That also, of course, assumes that being targeted by the government in either case maps well to some concept of justice.)
But, in China, you can’t criticize the government no matter how poor or rich you are. That’s the only reason Ma disappeared- he defied the government. Not to say bad things don’t happen to dissenters in the US but it’s not a matter of course like China.
IMHO, being able to criticize the government publicly without being disappeared is paramount to our ideals of society.
The article’s interpretation left out all that context.
In the US, everyone can criticize the government and the rich can break many laws.
In China, nobody can criticize the government and the rich can break most laws.
The only difference is that nobody in China can criticize the government.
Rich people can break many/most laws in just about every country on earth. That’s universal.
Do you understand now?
In contrast to here in America where only some of us can criticize the government. How is that supposed to help me ?
Both the internal statements by violent right-wing counter-demonstrators about widespread expectation of police tacit support without need for direct coordination that came to light and the actual police behavior toward violent right-wing counter-demonstrators in many cases during the recent BLM protests demonstrate that that certainly isn't true in substantial, recently-salient cases.
It's obviously not what some of “us” in positions of power aspire to.
I'm sure there are people whose decisions aren't reflected in the outcomes in China who prefer the CCP not repress dissent, too.
Unrealized aspirations aren't the measure of freedom of a regime.
(Sure, the US is better than the PRC when it comes to tolerating dissent. But it is not free of political repression.)
You generally don’t have to be rich to criticize the government in the US (without punishment; being rich may be necessary to get heard, though, but that’s a different problem); on the issues where the government at any level will retaliate, directly or indirectly, for criticism, wealth isn't really all that effective in stopping it, either.
Corruption is one of the thing that will end your career, even your life. Things like smuggling drugs, creating fake products that endanger lives, will get you executed.
Jack didn’t even go against the CCP. He criticized the financial regulators for not allowing innovation.
Weird that people desperately want this to be “China Bad Government” vs the Good Billionare Jack. But it’s more akin to an FCC vs Musk battle
Now? I've seen this since 2014 when the Yellow Movement happened in Hong Kong, and I was living in a jungle on an Island in the middle of the Pacific. What World are you living on that you didn't see the rise of a tyrannical juggernaut that had no qualms intervening in affairs of it's neighbors to flex its power on the World stage, and kicking sand in the face of people's metaphorical face when it came to Human Rights abuses all while using its populace as slave labour, debasing its currency to create ghost towns with massive cheap fiat and calling it prosperity while the CCP controlled Industries sourced endless amounts of funding from Elites in the West that systemically undercut most local and small businesses?
No, I'd say most people who believe that China is only now in the Media are the problem as they didn't see the obvious and thought buying cheap disposable goods from China would never ensure that manufacturing base of most countries would be centralized and create a massive central point of failure which would put supply chains in a very detrimental position and in the hands of the CCP. COVID only happened to expose just how deadly this was, but this was very clear to see if you bothered to look at China's behaviour in the last 2 decades.
Sinophobia, as it were, isn't what I think should be the focus as I honestly have a great deal of sympathy and sorrow for the plight of the average Chinese citizen who is simply trying to get ahead in what is a short window in what has otherwise been a state of poverty, wide spread perpetual misery and economic despair coupled with countless purges and Civil warfare.
And before I get accused of being racist: its worth noting that one side of my family has it's origin in Guangzhou.
You don't understand. It means that in China basically EVERYONE is at the mercy of the government, not just the rich. You just don't read about the anonymous ones they crush every day, and then you find them in your 'Real Body' exhibitions around the world.
Ever heard of Jeffrey Epstein? It was not that long ago.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/05/alibaba-founder-jack-ma-is-l...
In any case, zero relevance to what I was talking about. I think you responded to the wrong comment.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/05/alibaba-founder-jack-ma-is-l...
Again missing the point. There's no rule in dictatorships. The only 'rule' is the whims of the leadership. I wonder why so many people want to leave such countries instead of emigrating there - there must be some kind of reason, but I can't exactly picture it...
It's ceremonial role anyway, real power comes from CCP and title of President is only there to hide that fact
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_People%27s_Re...
We have delivered "democracy" to many countries, whether they want it or not.
Evidently, it seems it absolutely is our business how countries conduct themselves within their borders.
And that hasn't worked out well anywhere for the past what, 60 years?
Most of the countries we'd hope would "stand up to China" have a poor human rights record. I don't want to say one is better or worse than the other - I don't know how you measure one group of injustices against another - but in the scale of things, generously, both have room for improvement.
If the argument is that just because country A does B+C+D, doesn't mean they can't stand up to country W for doing X+Y+Z, doesn't it just become an issue of who can yield the bigger stick or carrot? If protecting human rights is selectively applied based on might AND that same might is also used to oppress human rights, isn't that setting an dangerous precedent?
He’s a billionaire, who’s in trouble with regulators for public ally flouting their regulations. Maybe it’s a good idea to stfu for a few months until it’s settled.
The sentiments from some people on HN are so weird about this. Everyone wants to screw the big bad tech companies for having so much monopolies on what we do, until China does it then it’s “oh no big bad government takes down billionaire.”
Unbelievable
But you seemed so sure that you were right
https://mobile.twitter.com/realvision/status/117150865794877...
ex) He predicted HNA ceo would be assassinated. A few moths HNA ceo is killed.
edit: another chinese CEO was killed in abroad in helicopter. there is just too many to keep track now
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/hna-chairmans-fa...
Chinese billionaires keep dying under mysterious circumstances.
As Guo Wengui said it "A kill is a kill".
Here is what happens if you succeed to the highest level.
Despite HNs sponsorship, I don’t get the impression that the readership is dominated by people financially dependent on the SV startup scene. Sure, they are overrepresented here, but given how small a percentage of world the SV startup scene is, it can be massively overrepresented and still be a minority position, and HN has a very broad audience.