Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Jack Ma makes first live appearance in three months in online meet

reuters.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 365 posts

Re: Jack Ma makes first live appearance in three months in online meet

#91

Post by JMTQp8lwXL »

nickysielicki wrote: post #23
sebmellen wrote: post #5

> In the 50-second video, Ma, dressed in a navy pullover, spoke directly to the camera from a room with grey marble walls and a striped carpet. It was not clear from the video or the Tianmu News article where he was speaking from. Uh, resurfacing from a fancy prison cell, perhaps? Can anyone find the video? EDIT: Here's the raw video: https://twitter.com/globaltimesnews/status/13517514568277196... . If you watch his…

I don't think it matters that he's reading off of a script. Imagine Bezos in the same situation, do you honestly think he wouldn't delegate the responsibility of speechwriting to his team of publicists?

If none of us heard from Bezos for months and the resurfacing video appeared to be him reading off a script, there would be questions. The optics would be off.

Re: Jack Ma makes first live appearance in three months in online meet

#92

Post by sebmellen »

hawkice wrote: post #76
FooBarWidget wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm not sure where on HN you found the sentiment Jack Ma was considered a national security threat. During the HN submission about Ant's IPO, before it was halted. For example: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24910410 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24906771

One of those was flagged, so it's pretty clearly "not-HN". The other says it's a state-run business (which, I mean, lots of people disagreed with that). That's miles away from saying something is a security threat [edit: it's worth saying, for those not clicking the link, he compares it to Saudi Aramco, which is, I mean, I've never heard that IPO described as a security threat either, so there's not really even any i…

It's gaslighting. The pro-China crowd has gotten very good at this. Look for the downvotes on posts with countervailing narratives.

Re: Jack Ma makes first live appearance in three months in online meet

#93

Post by FPGAhacker »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #78
FooBarWidget wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much more mental gymnastics do we need? I think it's time to accept that he WASN'T jailed rather than trying to forcefully shoehorn the facts into a 'but China still bad' narrative. The HN commentary went from 'Jack Ma is a national security threat' to 'Jack Ma is a poor victim of the CCP will will never be seen again' to 'this is fake, he is still jailed'. If he shows up someone else in person next time, will pe…

Anyone who is living in China, citizen or expat, is going to toe the party line (literally) since the consequences for not doing so these days can be severe. We’ve been through this before with other business people or defrocked public officials: Jack Ma is currently having a peaceful relaxing vacation at one of the party’s many secure resorts (Chinese have memes too). Whether he comes out of this like Fan Binbin or…

It’s “toe the line.”

Re: Jack Ma makes first live appearance in three months in online meet

#94

Post by fsdjlkfsjl »

lxe wrote: post #40
FooBarWidget wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much more mental gymnastics do we need? I think it's time to accept that he WASN'T jailed rather than trying to forcefully shoehorn the facts into a 'but China still bad' narrative. The HN commentary went from 'Jack Ma is a national security threat' to 'Jack Ma is a poor victim of the CCP will will never be seen again' to 'this is fake, he is still jailed'. If he shows up someone else in person next time, will pe…

A Chinese person's perspective about China and its politics/government on HN/Reddit? Enjoy the following classics: 1) you're brainwashed. 2) how do you justify the human rights violations? 3) you're a CCP shill 4) Would you publicly curse Xi and denounce the CCP? Good luck!

Chinese here (and sorry for the bad English).

I agree with everything FooBarWidget said, and it's super annoying every time HN has an anti-China boner based on ridiculous things (don't even let me start about Reddit.)

And then, I found myself.. don't want to risk saying anything here with my main account (hence this throwaway account), even if it's defending China.

Will anything happen to me? Very unlikely, even if I "curse Xi". But still, I don't want any topics about Chinese politics to be related with my main ID, "just in case". Unlike FooBarWidget who (by glancing at his Twitter) has settled in EU, I don't have this luxury still plan to go back to China.

I found this whole "mental gymnastics" I have myself ironic and, to be honest, pathetic. So I just stopped. :/

Re: Jack Ma makes first live appearance in three months in online meet

#95

Post by chrischen »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #78
FooBarWidget wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much more mental gymnastics do we need? I think it's time to accept that he WASN'T jailed rather than trying to forcefully shoehorn the facts into a 'but China still bad' narrative. The HN commentary went from 'Jack Ma is a national security threat' to 'Jack Ma is a poor victim of the CCP will will never be seen again' to 'this is fake, he is still jailed'. If he shows up someone else in person next time, will pe…

Anyone who is living in China, citizen or expat, is going to toe the party line (literally) since the consequences for not doing so these days can be severe. We’ve been through this before with other business people or defrocked public officials: Jack Ma is currently having a peaceful relaxing vacation at one of the party’s many secure resorts (Chinese have memes too). Whether he comes out of this like Fan Binbin or…

First, it's "toe the line."

Second, you're essentially saying that if the other person lives in China it doesn't matter what they say. Think about that for a second, and also about whether or not it really matters where they live if you've put some critical thought into their arguments. Granted some of what he says is subjective, but for something like this that's all you can really get. But if you've already decided the enemy must be wrong then there's no point discussing anything.

Third, the OP you were replying to said he lived in China, but according to his Twitter he's not living in China. So does that meet your standards of considering his opinions?

Re: Jack Ma makes first live appearance in three months in online meet

#96

Post by howlgarnish »

chrischen wrote: post #70
howlgarnish wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Compared to Jack Ma's usual public image (see below), a frumpy pullover and a dingy room does seem rather odd. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=jack+ma&iax=images&ia=images

Yes but he was comparing to how Bezos and Musk appear. Everyone is not how they normally appear because of the pandemic, and Ma addresses the reason why he's just video taping himself in a room because of this. Stop armchair speculating.

The odd outbreak aside (and Shijiazhuang is nowhere near Hangzhou), lockdowns are long over in China, there's no need for Ma to cower in a basement.

That said, I actually agree with you that the "hurr durr CCP torture cell" comments are overblown. It's entirely plausible that he's keeping a low profile for a while, if likely in response to some rather heavy-handed advice.

Re: Jack Ma makes first live appearance in three months in online meet

#97

Post by raverbashing »

FooBarWidget wrote: post #28
sebmellen wrote: post #5

> In the 50-second video, Ma, dressed in a navy pullover, spoke directly to the camera from a room with grey marble walls and a striped carpet. It was not clear from the video or the Tianmu News article where he was speaking from. Uh, resurfacing from a fancy prison cell, perhaps? Can anyone find the video? EDIT: Here's the raw video: https://twitter.com/globaltimesnews/status/13517514568277196... . If you watch his…

How much more mental gymnastics do we need? I think it's time to accept that he WASN'T jailed rather than trying to forcefully shoehorn the facts into a 'but China still bad' narrative. The HN commentary went from 'Jack Ma is a national security threat' to 'Jack Ma is a poor victim of the CCP will will never be seen again' to 'this is fake, he is still jailed'. If he shows up someone else in person next time, will pe…

I think that from their several actions that China/CCP is not the best example of democracy and criticism acceptance

So no I don't buy the retoric of misunderstood China

> I am from China and I have family in China.

So you're not behind the great firewall and don't need to contend with official internet censorship.

Re: Jack Ma makes first live appearance in three months in online meet

#98

Post by [deleted] »

arcticbull wrote: post #87
FooBarWidget wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much more mental gymnastics do we need? I think it's time to accept that he WASN'T jailed rather than trying to forcefully shoehorn the facts into a 'but China still bad' narrative. The HN commentary went from 'Jack Ma is a national security threat' to 'Jack Ma is a poor victim of the CCP will will never be seen again' to 'this is fake, he is still jailed'. If he shows up someone else in person next time, will pe…

So... where's multi-billionaire Xiao Jianhua? After being abducted from the Four Seasons in Hong Kong by the CCP, he popped up to explain he was seeking medical treatment on the mainland (haha) three years ago , and nobody's heard from him since. Also laying low? Or do you think he's discovered a new love of mining rare earth minerals in Xinjiang? C'mon now, this isn't exactly some big exoneration one way or the othe…

[deleted]

Re: Jack Ma makes first live appearance in three months in online meet

#99

Post by approxim8ion »

echelon wrote: post #14
sebmellen wrote: post #5

> In the 50-second video, Ma, dressed in a navy pullover, spoke directly to the camera from a room with grey marble walls and a striped carpet. It was not clear from the video or the Tianmu News article where he was speaking from. Uh, resurfacing from a fancy prison cell, perhaps? Can anyone find the video? EDIT: Here's the raw video: https://twitter.com/globaltimesnews/status/13517514568277196... . If you watch his…

This regime is no joke. We need to offer Hong Kong and Chinese citizens a fast and easy path to citizenship in the West. If we do not brain drain China, rehabilitate our manufacturing capability, and prevent the CCP's rise to global dominance, we'll all have our liberties threatened. It could start with an offer to Jack Ma. Offer for him to move to SF or Miami. Watch for the "ha, ha, no thanks", but see the impact it…

You're not proposing a plan to save the world here, what you're proposing is imperialism.

Re: Jack Ma makes first live appearance in three months in online meet

#100

Post by howlgarnish »

chrischen wrote: post #72
sebmellen wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Curious how so?

Assuming the standards of appearance for public figures are based on specific people from America of specific ethnic and cultural backgrounds. I mean if I video conferenced with you right now you'd probably speculate I've been coopted by Communist powers because simply because my background isn't up to your standards (it'd be of a water heater and radon pipes since I'm in the basement).

With all due respect, you are presumably also not the multibillionaire CEO of one of the world's largest Internet companies.

If I saw Zuck, Satya or Sundar do a video conference looking like they're chained to the radiator in somebody's basement, I'd also be kinda concerned. (At least for the latter two. Zuck, maybe not so much.)

Post reply on HN