Alibaba: The Giant of e-Commerce

[FairAndUnbiased]

SCMP was a tabloid of questionable reputation. Glad to see it under responsible management.

 

[Beidou2020]

Next step is to fire all the anti-mainland journalists and hire pro-mainland journalists.

Alibaba shouldn't go on an apology tour trying to appease the West.

Hong Kong media should be all turned into pro-mainland.

 

[Audio]

Ah, best Chinese newspaper goes to someone who couldn't have possibly made it as far as he did without extensive support of those who the paper criticized (constructively and somewhat objectively, as destructive criticism wasn't allowed anyway)

 

[TaiShang]

Next step is to fire all the anti-mainland journalists and hire pro-mainland journalists.

Alibaba shouldn't go on an apology tour trying to appease the West.

Hong Kong media should be all turned into pro-mainland.

Exactly. And that's what will happen, rest assured. Haters gonna turn greener.

 

[21stCentury]

SCMP was a tabloid of questionable reputation. Glad to see it under responsible management.

I was gonna remark something similar. SCMP is indeed a questionable media outlet with questionable funding.

 

[qwerrty]

nice. a lot of occupy zombies supporters will get fired

 

[ahojunk]

SCMP was a tabloid of questionable reputation. Glad to see it under responsible management.

Now, SCMP has lots of funds. Their editors don't have to pander anymore to tabloid news to get readerships/clicks.

My expectation is that the quality of their news will improve over time.

With Alibaba in control, the news "bias" will become more favorable to mainland China.

 

[oproh]

Good, one less western propaganda mouthpiece.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Good, one less western propaganda mouthpiece.

Umm...the guy Alibaba bought it from is Malaysian-Chinese billionaire. What does the west have to do with it?

Kuok: SCMP sale just a "business decision" | Marketing Interactive

Kerry Properties - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is *some* of the property this "pro-Western" man controls in China.

• Shangri-La Hotel, Baotou
• Shangri-La Hotel, Beihai
• China World Hotel, Beijing
• China World Summit Wing, Beijing
• Shangri-La Hotel, Beijing
• Traders Hotel, Beijing
• Hotel Jen Upper East Beijing, Beijing
• Kerry Hotel, Beijing
• Shangri-La Hotel, Changchun
• Shangri-La Hotel, Changzhou
• Traders Fudu Hotel, Changzhou
• Shangri-La Hotel, Chengdu
• Shangri-La Hotel, Dalian
• Shangri-La Hotel, Diqing (opening soon)
• Shangri-La Hotel, Fuzhou
• Shangri-La Hotel, Guangzhou
• Shangri-La Hotel, Guilin
• Shangri-La Hotel, Haikou
• Shangri-La Hotel, Hangzhou
• Midtown Shangri-La, Hangzhou (2015)
• Shangri-La Hotel, Harbin
• Shangri-La Harbin, Songbei District (2016)
• Shangri-La Hotel, Hefei
• Shangri-La Hotel, Hohhot
• Shangri-La Hotel, Jinan (2016)
• Shangri-La Hotel, Kunming (2018)
• Shangri-La Hotel, Lhasa
• Shangri-La Hotel, Manzhouli
• Shangri-La Hotel, Nanchang
• Shangri-La Hotel, Nanjing
• Shangri-La Hotel, Ningbo
• Shangri-La Hotel, Qingdao
• Shangri-La Hotel, Qinhuangdao
• Shangri-La Hotel, Qufu
• Shangri-La Sanya, Hainan – Resort
• Jing An Shangri-La Hotel, West Shanghai
• Pudong Shangri-La Hotel, Shanghai
• Kerry Hotel, Pudong, Shanghai
• Shangri-La Hotel, Shaoxing (2017)
• Shangri-La Hotel, Shenyang
• Hotel Jen, Shenyang
• Futian Shangri-La Hotel, Shenzhen
• Shangri-La Hotel, Shenzhen
• Shangri-La Hotel, Suzhou
• Shangri-La Hotel, Tangshan (opening soon)
• Shangri-La Hotel, Tianjin
• Shangri-La Hotel, Wenzhou
• Shangri-La Hotel, Wuhan
• Golden Flower Hotel, Xi'an
• Shangri-La Hotel, Xi'an
• Shangri-La Hotel, Xiamen (2016)
• Shangri-La Hotel, Yangzhou
• Shangri-La Hotel, Yingkou (2016)
• Shangri-La Hotel, Zhengzhou (2018)

 

[Beidou2020]

Western propaganda mouthpieces are fuming that Alibaba is buying SCMP

CPC should ask other Chinese companies to buy all media companies in Hong Kong.

 

[TaiShang]

Western propaganda mouthpieces are fuming that Alibaba is buying SCMP

CPC should ask other Chinese companies to buy all media companies in Hong Kong.

That's eventually what is going to happen. Whoever control the money, controls the discourse.

China has enough money and now it is time to move to the realm of discourse making and promotion. State-friendly corporate media is a nice tool to ensure middle class stability and strong nationhood.

 

[Shotgunner51]

Talking about Alibaba's vision for the SCMP, Joseph Tsai, executive vice chairman of Alibaba Group, said in the announcement that the company will eliminate "the paywall" on the scmp.com to allow free access to its content some time after the takeover.

I believe Joseph Tsai (蔡崇信) is the man behind this remarkable deal, as always, called "Billionaire Rainmaker" by Bloomberg. This deal with Kuok Hock Nien (郭鹤年) on acquiring SCMP should be part of Tsai's grand plan to build a global media arm for the Alibaba group.

On the other hand, SCMP is relatively a very small unit within Kuok's multinational business empire which covers a wide array of industries/sectors. I don't see any plan from Kuok on expanding media business.

It's a fair business deal between the two tycoons.

P.S.:

Joseph Tsai (蔡崇信). Taiwan-born, law degrees from Yale University, career banker before joining hands with Ma Yun in making Alibaba an e-commerce empire, now his estimated personal net worth $7.4 billion. He is married to Clara Ming-Hua Wu, a granddaughter of Wu San-Lien, the former mayor of Taipei City. Clara graduated from Stanford University where she studied international relations, she also had an MBA degree from Harvard Business School. They reside in Hong Kong.

 

[LowPost]

Global Times delivered an op-ed piece about the deal:

Alibaba’s SCMP acquisition twisted in political lens
By Liu Zhun Source:Global Times Published: 2015-12-14 0:03:01

Alibaba's march in the media industry is growing ambitious. On Friday, the Chinese Internet giant announced it is to acquire the media assets of the SCMP Group, including one of the most influential English language newspapers based in Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post (SCMP). The SCMP is a daily newspaper that shares typical Western values and perspectives in media coverage.

The acquisition raised a debate about whether Alibaba, a Chinese mainland enterprise, will jeopardize the independence and objectivity of the newspaper. Alibaba confirmed that the Chinese government had no role in the deal, and Joseph Tsai, Alibaba's executive vice chairman, said the newspaper will continue to run "on principles," and "editors make their judgment on what to publish and not to publish."

However, Alibaba also admitted that the acquisition serves an important purpose of improving China's image, considering the fact that China is always observed by Western media through a biased lens. Some of their negative, exaggerated and even groundless reports about China have bred misconceptions, which have impacted Alibaba's interests.

From a business perspective, Alibaba's acquisition of the SCMP is no different from Amazon taking over the Washington Post. Through cooperation, Internet companies desire sustainable prosperity by using traditional media's established leverage and channels, while traditional media hope they could survive in its winter and reverse the downfall in a digital era.

Alibaba's advance in the media industry is part of the trend, and it could be anticipated that more Chinese companies will step into this market.

In the past decades, China has been requested by the Western hemisphere to be more open-minded and engaged in global competition. Now, confronted with more dynamic Chinese companies embracing the world in various dimensions, the West should focus on business-oriented competition, instead of conjuring up politically-driven schemes. Concerns with ulterior motives are disrespectful to the efforts of Chinese companies.

As Alibaba said, misunderstandings about China are rife in Western discourse. They can hardly be eliminated overnight. The blossoming of Chinese companies is related to China's multifaceted mode of development, which needs to be illustrated fairly to the outside. In this process, the media helps a lot.

It is perhaps more productive if the West could look at Alibaba's acquisition and future operation of the SCMP from a constructive angle. Alibaba will not only reinvigorate the newspaper without putting its reputation and survival in peril as it pledged, but also tailor it to be a window to more balanced and complicated portraits of what is happening in China. The rest of the world can benefit from a true understanding of China.

Alibaba’s SCMP acquisition twisted in political lens - Global Times

 

[Shotgunner51]

Global Times delivered an op-ed piece about the deal:

Alibaba’s SCMP acquisition twisted in political lens

By Liu Zhun Source:Global Times Published: 2015-12-14 0:03:01
Share on twitter Share on facebook Share on sinaweibo Share on linkedin More Sharing Services 2
Alibaba's march in the media industry is growing ambitious. On Friday, the Chinese Internet giant announced it is to acquire the media assets of the SCMP Group, including one of the most influential English language newspapers based in Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post (SCMP). The SCMP is a daily newspaper that shares typical Western values and perspectives in media coverage.

The acquisition raised a debate about whether Alibaba, a Chinese mainland enterprise, will jeopardize the independence and objectivity of the newspaper. Alibaba confirmed that the Chinese government had no role in the deal, and Joseph Tsai, Alibaba's executive vice chairman, said the newspaper will continue to run "on principles," and "editors make their judgment on what to publish and not to publish."

However, Alibaba also admitted that the acquisition serves an important purpose of improving China's image, considering the fact that China is always observed by Western media through a biased lens. Some of their negative, exaggerated and even groundless reports about China have bred misconceptions, which have impacted Alibaba's interests.

From a business perspective, Alibaba's acquisition of the SCMP is no different from Amazon taking over the Washington Post. Through cooperation, Internet companies desire sustainable prosperity by using traditional media's established leverage and channels, while traditional media hope they could survive in its winter and reverse the downfall in a digital era.

Alibaba's advance in the media industry is part of the trend, and it could be anticipated that more Chinese companies will step into this market.

In the past decades, China has been requested by the Western hemisphere to be more open-minded and engaged in global competition. Now, confronted with more dynamic Chinese companies embracing the world in various dimensions, the West should focus on business-oriented competition, instead of conjuring up politically-driven schemes. Concerns with ulterior motives are disrespectful to the efforts of Chinese companies.

As Alibaba said, misunderstandings about China are rife in Western discourse. They can hardly be eliminated overnight. The blossoming of Chinese companies is related to China's multifaceted mode of development, which needs to be illustrated fairly to the outside. In this process, the media helps a lot.

It is perhaps more productive if the West could look at Alibaba's acquisition and future operation of the SCMP from a constructive angle. Alibaba will not only reinvigorate the newspaper without putting its reputation and survival in peril as it pledged, but also tailor it to be a window to more balanced and complicated portraits of what is happening in China. The rest of the world can benefit from a true understanding of China.

Alibaba’s SCMP acquisition twisted in political lens - Global Times

A good article, thanks bro! The west will be hostile to China forever, it never ends. Read some of Samuel Huntington's thesis.

Like I said before: Never expect smile from the west, nor care about their hate, cos both are equally worthless. Be pragmatic, make friends with non-west, get things done step-by-step.

 

[Beidou2020]

A good article, thanks bro! The west will be hostile to China forever, it never ends. Read some of Samuel Huntington's thesis.

Like I said before: Never expect smile from the west, nor care about their hate, cos both are equally worthless. Be pragmatic, and walk the walk.

CCTV English has been repeating the Western propaganda whether SCMP will lose its editorial independence. Only Global Times strongly defends Chinese interests and says China's point of view in no uncertain terms.

I really think the boss, producers and reporters at CCTV English are part of Washington's 5th columns. These guys are hardcore American apologists or these guys are definitely being paid by the US. I don't think the Chinese government has been paying enough attention to these guys.

Everytime there is an event, they parrot the West's point of view over China's point of view. It's absolutely staggering that a state-owned Chinese network is not portraying China's point of view to the world. Nearly all the guests they have are critical of China and praise America. They only have establishment people.