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What really happened to Jack Ma?

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51–60 of 210 posts

Re: What really happened to Jack Ma?

#51
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people are more likely to end up in prison in the USA than they are in China

But not because some government official suddenly decided they should. In the USA, the rules are known well in advance. There might be questionable rules, but POTUS cannot decree a rule into existence and put a bag over your head an hour later.

Of course not.

They'll just fabricate lies, label you a terrorist or a "Russian spy" and put you in prison.

Re: What really happened to Jack Ma?

#52
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people are more likely to end up in prison in the USA than they are in China

But not because some government official suddenly decided they should. In the USA, the rules are known well in advance. There might be questionable rules, but POTUS cannot decree a rule into existence and put a bag over your head an hour later.

> But not because some government official suddenly decided they should

You mean like this guy, for example? https://www.npr.org/2020/12/11/945565473/u-s-clears-for-rele...

Or the (by now, likely in the thousands) people killed by US drone attacks?

I don't want to play the whataboutism card, but let's not pretend that the US is somehow exceptional here. In fact, I'd consider it one of the more troubling countries, with the kindappings, Guantanamo, and the "grey area" on the borders, where your constitutional rights do not apply.

The world is not a nice place, and the US is no exception, unfortunately.

Re: What really happened to Jack Ma?

#53
post #4

>>>“I am puzzled. I don’t know why the press is not more curious about these very curious little stray sightings and a short video clip and nobody speaking for attribution.” Come one, are you really puzzled..... Follow the Money... US Media (and they are Media not journalists) is a for-profit business tied to entertainment, we have seen all manner of entertainment from movies to sports bow to the directives of China.…

But even the non-MSM / alternate online news has let this one slide.

I imagine that this is because those non-Chinese outlets that vilify China bundle the CCP, Chinese businesses and Chinese powerful individuals into the same entity, all with Xi on top.

Presenting this as anything but an "internal conflict" doesn't fit their narrative and agenda and therefore it isn't interesting.

Re: What really happened to Jack Ma?

#54
post #29

> There are one billion smartphones in China today. Everyone knows what Jack Ma looks like. Given his notoriety, and the intense vested interest of the financial world in his status and well-being, if he is at liberty today, how could it be that there are no pictures of him in circulation? This point would be better if it could be demonstrated by showing that there were a lot of ordinary people taking pictures of Ma…

> given that he doesn't mention it, I conclude that he didn't do enough research

> I'm too lazy to check how many of them are reposts of old pictures

You just proved his point - plenty of images available from 2019 and earlier. Plus he used to have flashy appearances that would be reported on international media every once in a while - the lack of those alone tells us something has changed drastically.

Re: What really happened to Jack Ma?

#55
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people are more likely to end up in prison in the USA than they are in China

But not because some government official suddenly decided they should. In the USA, the rules are known well in advance. There might be questionable rules, but POTUS cannot decree a rule into existence and put a bag over your head an hour later.

[deleted]

Re: What really happened to Jack Ma?

#56

This is an interesting read - I didn’t know how unsubstantiated a lot of the “sightings” of Jack were… was dumb of him to say what he did, but doesn’t warrant the apparent mistreatment

I fault the press for letting this slide. Most people just read headlines and figured he was alright and their theories were proven false. The press should have for skepticism because they act as the middle layer between the public and the reality of what is going on. They have a responsibility to get us the relevant facts. These days seems like the press has sold out and seems like they are in someone’s pocket…

Nobody really does investigative journalism any more. It's expensive and has an uncertain payoff.

In the face of declining ad revenue media organizations are much more keen on predictable revenue streams.

Re: What really happened to Jack Ma?

#57
post #28
post #23

The very excellent effect of Ma's downfall is that it will remind wealthy people in the West that democracy has its good points. Much easier to sympathize with the expropriation of a Billionaire than some schlub from the middle of nowhere.

> The very excellent effect of Ma's downfall is that it will remind wealthy people in the West that democracy has its good points. Yes, like protecting rich criminals. > Much easier to sympathize with the expropriation of a Billionaire than some schlub from the middle of nowhere. Some people never have enough. It is good that sometimes they are shown that limits exist.

Nice endorsement of kidnapping and violence against people who have "too much". Fits every criteria of fascism and yet I bet you don't wear that label outwardly.

Re: What really happened to Jack Ma?

#58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But not because some government official suddenly decided they should. In the USA, the rules are known well in advance. There might be questionable rules, but POTUS cannot decree a rule into existence and put a bag over your head an hour later.

People who spent years in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (or are still there, after 20 years, without being charged) might disagree with you on that.

> In the USA

What the US does to non-citizens outside the USA is a messy area. Inside the USA? The rules are far more clear.

Re: What really happened to Jack Ma?

#59
post #17

I hope Xi has a lovely trip to The Hague one of these days.

Please don't take HN threads into generic ideological or nationalistic flamewar. No, we don't care about Xi [1]. We just care about not having tedious and nasty HN threads, which is what comments like this point to. Plesae don't do that here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html [1] and if you worry that we may secretly be communist agents please see this mini-FAQ: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=266…

Eventually sticking your head in the sand is condoning behaviour. I understand your perspective however given YC's conflict of interest due to investing in Chinese companies I think it would be prudent to stick YC's flag in the ground. Inaction and fence-sitting is radically political too.

Re: What really happened to Jack Ma?

#60
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But not because some government official suddenly decided they should. In the USA, the rules are known well in advance. There might be questionable rules, but POTUS cannot decree a rule into existence and put a bag over your head an hour later.

> But not because some government official suddenly decided they should You mean like this guy, for example? https://www.npr.org/2020/12/11/945565473/u-s-clears-for-rele... Or the (by now, likely in the thousands) people killed by US drone attacks? I don't want to play the whataboutism card, but let's not pretend that the US is somehow exceptional here. In fact, I'd consider it one of the more troubling countries, wi…

The USA is exceptional in that that stuff does not happen to citizens within its borders.
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