Meituan drivers, in their identifiable yellow color, have become a common presence on streets of China’s cities. Credit: Capwiuejooh, Creative Commons
Perhaps only in China could a CEO quoting thousand-year old poetry lead to a plunge in their company’s share price. Yet that is what happened to food delivery giant Meituan — the country’s third-largest tech company — this spring.
Meituan boss Wang Xing’s decision to share on social media a Tang Dynasty poem that mocked the actions of China’s first leader was widely interpreted as a slight against President Xi Jinping. (Wang later said that it was intended as a commentary on
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If Xi Jinping is becoming more preoccupied with internal politics, it could lead to a period of relative calm in China’s relations with the United States.
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