SHANGHAI: A Hong Kong journalist has quit in a controversy over disputed remarks that Jack Ma, founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, is reported to have made in support of Beijing’s violent crackdown on Tiananmen Square protesters in 1989.
The controversy comes ahead of the anticipated listing of Alibaba, expected to value the firm at $60bn-$100bn, which in turn has put a critical spotlight on Ma, the wider Chinese Internet industry and its approach to freedom of speech.
Ma denies he made such an assertion siding with the government and the journalist, too, has said her report for the South China Morning Post this month was changed in editing, and she has apologised to Ma. The daily, though, is standing behind the story.
In undisputed comments in the same report, Ma described the Chinese government as “terrific” and downplayed the significance of Internet censorship. But his disputed comments on the Tiananmen crackdown, a symbol for human rights campaigners of Beijing’s intolerance of free speech, drew the biggest reaction.
The interview, published on July 13, has caused public criticism of Ma in the Hong Kong and foreign press, with some Chinese netizens calling for a boycott of Alibaba’s e-commerce websites, including Alibaba.com and Taobao.com.
However, journalist Liu Yi, in a statement written in Chinese on her Facebook account, said the published version of the interview with Ma was not the same as her original submission, and that she later took the initiative to edit the online version herself to “set the record straight”.
“Ma never intended to make any comments about politics,” her statement said. “I solemnly apologise to Ma Yun (Jack Ma’s Chinese name) and resign from the South China Morning Post.”
Liu did not respond to a request for further comment made through her Facebook account.
The Post said in a statement on its web site dated Saturday that the reporter had accessed its system and replaced the editor-approved article with an altered version in which Ma’s reference to Tiananmen was removed without authorisation. Its statement said that the editor-approved version was restored and that Liu Yi had been suspended, but she chose to resign on July 19 before an investigation had been completed.
Reuters
