‘Alibaba sexual assault’ excused… Chinese authorities crack down on karaoke and drinking parties

China’s largest e-commerce company Alibaba’s internal sexual assault case is in full swing. According to the Financial Times (FT) on the 11th (local time), the Chinese authorities plan to crack down on drinking culture after work after social outrage over the incident has risen.

The Central Discipline Inspection Commission (CCDI), an anti-corruption agency of the Communist Party of China, commented, “Drinking coercion can lead to crime, so this practice should be replaced with ‘correct values’.” China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism is moving to regulate karaoke. It is said that harmful thoughts can be spread in karaoke. Measures will include banning drugs, gambling, songs with lyrics that promote religion or threaten China’s sovereignty.

The voice on the ground is strong. Tencent, China’s largest internet company, has also urged interns to ban a culture of forced drinking in the workplace. Martin Lau, president of Tencent, said he would accept the proposal, adding that “the company does not tolerate any form of sexual harassment.”

Alibaba office in Beijing, China.[로이터=연합뉴스]

The recent series of actions by the Communist Party against China’s tech giants have shaken the market, the FT reported. The share price of Guizhou Motaiju (贵州茅台酒), famous for its white liquor, fell 2.6% on the same day, and another white liquor company, Shanxi Haenghwa Village Bunzhou (山西杏花村汾酒), also fell 2.49% right after the Disciplinary Committee commented.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) the day before, SoftBank Group Chairman Son Jeong-eui announced that he would stop investing in China. “We plan to hold off our investment in China until the risks are clear due to the unpredictable and widespread regulations of the Chinese authorities,” he said.

The Economic Reference News published by Xinhua News Agency, a Chinese state-run media, published an article citing ‘data security’ as the reason, saying that Chinese state-owned funds should lead investment in Internet technology companies.

Earlier on the 3rd, the Economic Reference News published an article criticizing mobile games as ‘mental opiate’, shocking the stock market. At the same time, he mentioned Tencent’s representative mobile game, ‘The Prince Youngyo’, along with the problem of youth game addiction.

It is interpreted that the contribution of the Economic Reference Report reflects the intentions of the Communist Party. A series of recent regulatory actions by Chinese authorities coincided with moves by Chinese tech giants to go public.

In November last year, Chinese authorities refused to allow Ant Group, a fintech company founded by Alibaba founder Ma Yun, to go public on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges. This led to Ma’s criticism from the Chinese authorities, but China has imposed various restrictions on technology companies since it put the brakes on the IPO of Ant Group.

At the end of June, when Didi Chuxing, China’s largest car-sharing company, went public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), immediately afterward, the company was ‘preventing national data security risks and protecting national security’. Internet security review.