Why is Jack Ma not a power elite in China?

By

 


This is a picture of Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group, one of the wealthiest people in China, at the Bund Summit in Shanghai on 24 October 2020. In his speech, he talked about the problems that existed in China’s Finance system. His major arguments are

  1. In the past, to align with international standards, China had to do what developed countries did to fill the gaps, and it is time to change that mindset.
  2. China needs to reexamine the regulation system. It is not wise to stifle financial innovation in the name of regulation.
  3. The essence of finance lies in credit management. China needs to abandon the pawnshop mentality of finance and rely on a credit system.


At the time, Ant Financial, a fintech affiliate of Alibaba Group, was about to go public with the world’s biggest-ever IPO (about 40 billion dollars), yet several days after his speech, the Chinese regulatory authorities compelled Ant Group to suspend its IPO. Jack Ma was summoned for talks by the financial institutions and has disappeared from public sight since then.


According to Mills’ theory of power elites, there are three dominant institutions in modern society in the United States — the economic domain, the governmental domain, and the military domain (Mills 1956:7). As for the economic domain, the accumulation of financial advantages enable cooperate leaders to influence political decisions by commanding the economy from their positions of corporate power, which makes them an integral part of the power elite. Below is a picture of  Jack Ma shaking hands with Donald Trump in January 2017 just before Trump’s presidency. Trump told the reporters that “Jack and I are going to do some great things” after their ‘great meeting’. Jack Ma said that he would help the United States create a million new jobs for farmers and clothing makers through his Alibaba website, which symbolizes an example of corporation owners engaging in the formation of political policies.



The two software of the Alibaba Group, Alipay and Taobao, have changed the lifestyle of billions of Chinese people. As one of the richest people, Jack Ma actively wishes to engage in the process of policy-making in China. At the beginning of his speech in 2020, he claimed “Our country needs to build a healthy financial system. Reformation demands sacrifice, and the effects of the reformations we undertake may only be seen by the next generation. Thus we are the ones that carry the burden as we move forward.”In this way, his three arguments or suggestions mentioned earlier reflected not only his will to attain greater personal wealth through the IPO of Ant Financial, but also his greater ambition to improve the entire financial system of China. Yet China is a socialist country, which makes his ambition turn into the will of the bourgeoisie according to Marx’s theory. Under this system, the political domain and the economic domain cannot be an integral group. The essence of the problem is not what he suggested, but is the act of making the suggestion itself. Since the secret talk between him and the regulatory institutions, he has quit the Alibaba group and disappeared from public. The difference between his conversation with Trump and the regulatory institutions in China have insinuated the reason why he fails to become a power elite in China.



Reference

Anoymous. 2017. "Donald Trump has a 'great conversation' with Jack Ma." Retrieved April 19 2024. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38564679#:~:text=US%20President%2Delect%20Donald%20Trump,more%20friendly%20and%20do%20better%22.

Wright, Mills C. 1956. "The Power Elite." Oxford University Press.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chains of Power and Presidential Portraits

By
Image
  A presidential portrait is a tradition which solidifies a president's position in history as a person but also a symbol of America and democracy. Because of the exceptional symbolic weight of a presidential portrait it is a good image to analyze when considering power, particularly the concept of the King's two bodies. In interpreting the above portrait I will use Reed's definition of interpretation, "...Understanding the relationship between means, ends, and projects possessed by actors and used to direct their actions is interpretation" (Reed 2017:92). Unlike many other portraits which show a president staring into the distance, Obama's portrait shows him making direct eye-contact with the viewer. The portrait is life sized which adds to the feeling that the viewer is engaged in a conversation which Obama is listening to. Obama leaning forward slightly with his legs in an open stance suggests he is open to listening. By connecting with the view
Read more

US-China Hostility and National Civil Solidarity

By
Image
     The image above accompanies a piece in the Global Times titled, "US irrational hostility toward China a coldly rational ploy". Accordingly, the image depicts a charged face-off of between a bald eagle and panda bear, meant to represent the United States and China respectively. The eagle's brow is sharply furrowed, pupil directed menacingly at its opponent. Its beak is set in a grimace, harsh lines contributing to its severe disposition. Across the border, the normally docile image of a panda is perverted with the black spot over its eye distorted to resemble a knitted brow. The edge of its mouth is drawn down in an angry frown as it glares at the eagle. The two animals are set against a backdrop of the American and Chinese flags, the two countries literally competing for space within the frame. A sharp diagonal line cuts through the tension, separating the two opposing sides. In this struggle, the red, white, and blue of the American flag appear to overpower the red
Read more

Jesus for President? Civil Religion in American Politics

By
       https://images.app.goo.gl/fPSPyuM49wqkXw279   This image depicts a political rally where a large crowd of people are gathered together outside. Three of them are  holding American flags, two of which are raised in the air and one where only the top corner is visible. One person holds a large white sign with "JESUS" written on it in big red letters. The numbers 201 are visible in dark blue, with the last number being obscured. The faces of most of the people are very blurred, but their hats, coats, glasses and hooded jackets are visible. One person's eyes are looking directly at the camera, and they are wearing glasses and a baseball cap, but the second half of their face is obscured.  A tree is visible beside the crowd of people but it is out of focus. This image depicts a rally where American Christianity is being represented as a political identity through the lens of civil religion and religious nationalism.    In Robert N. Bellah's essay "Civil Religio
Read more