No one understands the Chinese Communist Party better than someone who was almost killed by it. Brent Crane talks to Chenggang Xu about his life and intellectual journey, from regime prisoner to regime expert.
Illustration by Luis Grañena
In 2017, the Chinese economist Chenggang Xu met Jack Ma inside his palatial home in Hangzhou. The Alibaba founder had recently funded an academy of social sciences of which Xu was a founding member. During a group meeting at Ma’s mansion, Xu tried to politely warn the outspoken billionaire that the explosive growth of Ant Group, Alibaba’s fintech arm, was a colossal political liability.
A statement released by Alibaba, agreeing to pay a $2.8 billion fine imposed in 2021. Source: gov
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Chinese-operated vessels regularly ply Taiwan’s waters and visit its ports, while one of Beijing’s state-owned enterprises operates berths at the island’s biggest harbor through a Hong Kong subsidiary. Both are national security risks that the island’s government is beginning to address.
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