The Chinese Communist Party, under the leadership of General Secretary Xi Jinping, has waged a bloody and ruthless war against private enterprises in China. Businesses are being made to suffer while leading industrialists and executives are being made victims of the CCP’s overreach. Only recently, it was reported that a man with the surname ‘Ma’ was detained in China. ‘Ma’ was detained in the city of Hangzhou on national security grounds. The man was placed under “compulsory measures” on April 25 on suspicion of “colluding with overseas anti-China hostile forces” to “incite secession” and “incite subversion of state power”.
Soon after the news broke of ‘Ma’ being detained from the city of Hangzhou – where Alibaba is based, Alibaba’s shares plummeted 20 percent. Soon, $26 billion were wiped off Alibaba’s market value. This cemented the belief that the CCP had finally got on to Jack Ma and taken the biggest step against him since the crackdown against Alibaba was initiated by Xi Jinping in late 2020.
The exodus of Chinese Business Tycoons Out of Weibo
Chinese business tycoons have begun shunning Weibo – the Chinese social media platform and clearing their posts from the past. Now, only posts made in the last six months are visible on Weibo. Weibo accounts of the following Chinese tycoons have disappeared:
- Liu Qing, president of “Didi Chuxing,” China’s largest mobile transportation platform.
- Liu Chuanzhi, founder of Lenovo Group, one of the largest worldwide computer makers.
- Wang Xing, founder of Chinese shopping platform Meituan.
- Zhang Yiming, founder of ByteDance, a Chinese multinational internet technology company.
On the surface, business leaders and executives leaving Weibo and erasing their social media history looks like a move aimed at self-preservation. With news of Jack Ma being detained by the CCP for anti-national activities, business owners are definitely spooked. They now realize that Xi Jinping will go to any extent to tame them. Therefore, they are leaving social media and retiring away from the public limelight.
What’s Really Going On?
Remember, the people who are leaving Weibo are rich, powerful, and have contacts within the CCP. Moving forward, with the CCP all set to convene its Congress in autumn this year to select the next general secretary, intense factionalism from within the organization is coming to the fore. Xi Jinping is China’s most powerful man, only until the CCP allows him to be. If in the coming months, the CCP were to shun Jinping, he would not even have the authority of a prison janitor.
Beijing is currently considering pushing some of its biggest tech companies to offer 1% equity stakes to the state and give the government a direct role in corporate decisions.
Businesses in China are desperate to ensure their survival. They will only survive if they play their cards right with the different factions of the CCP in the months to come, and are able to oust Xi Jinping from power. The Shanghai faction could prove to be the deal-maker for such tycoons. They have it all – money, enterprise, and even human resources. All that needs to be done is a friendly leader needs to be appointed as the next Chinese president.
The withdrawal of business tycoons from Chinese social media should be seen as a mark of protest against Jinping’s regime. It is the calm before the storm. Chinese corporations are preparing to strike Xi Jinping at the opportune time, and the despot better brace for impact.
Watch –
