I don't think Jack Ma is at a place to tell other companies what to do given Alibaba itself benefits from the government's shield that keeps foreign competitors away. In the long run, an Alibaba monopoly formed of protective policy will be detrimental to the Chinese consumers.
P.S. I am Chinese and hold a neutral stance on US/Chinese political systems, but economics common sense tells me Jack Ma spat out quite some hypocritical BS there.
There's no doubt that Jack Ma is smart and hard working. But he and his success is also a product of his environment. I don't have any direct evidence but no companies in China achieves the kind of success Tencent or Alibaba does without some sort of government officials silently nodding their heads behind them.
That means they're likely complicit in any information gathering the government wants to perform on its citizens as a precondition to their continued operations. The Chinese government is probably all too happy to see these "monopolies" that are effectively playing ball with the government, since the more users that adopt their platform, the more data they have on their citizens.
And this is not even touching on how they can exert themselves on these Chinese internet companies to shape the conversations that are happening online.
The younger generation (born in 80s/90s) in China is usually aware of the amount of censorship imposed and take the government policies and billionaires' success stories with a grain of salt. There are smart ways to get their voices out through music, art projects and onion articles, and escaping the censorship has become a fun game to play (hidden political memes are everywhere right under the big brother's eyes).
I think both China and US have their own "ways of doing things" that disadvantage foreign players, but I do think at this stage China has some catching up to do if it wants to claim to be an open, level playing field, etc, and Ma is in no position to be talking about such a thing.
Can you tell me which part of what he said (as opposed to what other people said he said) is what you consider hypocritical?
“I gave advice to Jeff Bezos 10 years ago,” Mr. Ma said, referring to Amazon.com Inc.’s chief executive. “I said: ‘Please send people with entrepreneurial spirit, not professional management. Because wherever you go, doing business in another country is very difficult.’”
...
Mr. Ma spoke out against the perception that U.S. companies can’t succeed in China, citing Microsoft Corp. and Coca-Cola Co. as businesses that have thrived here.
“Give me five examples of Chinese companies that succeed in America,” he said. “Or Asian companies that succeed in America. Because it’s not easy to do business across nations, it takes time.”
> "I gave advice to Jeff Bezos 10 years ago,” Mr. Ma said, referring to Amazon.com Inc.’s chief executive. “I said: ‘Please send people with entrepreneurial spirit, not professional management. Because wherever you go, doing business in another country is very difficult"
He's stating the obvious (typical success story speech with no substance). It's way too generic to be a legit advice, and "entrepreneurial spirit" is definitely not why his company succeeded.
> “Give me five examples of Chinese companies that succeed in America,” he said. “Or Asian companies that succeed in America. Because it’s not easy to do business across nations, it takes time.”
He equates a highly controlled market with a relatively free market. Either he does not understand economics or he stirred up the concept intentionally. It's not easy to do business across nations, but clearly one market is easier to access than the other.
Look, I understand why lots of people worship Jack Ma. He's like the Steve Jobs/Bill Gates of China, but even those two had taken advantage of things most entrepreneurs had not. All in all, I care more about the health of economy of my home country than what Jack Ma has to say about U.S. companies.
P.S. I am Chinese and hold a neutral stance on US/Chinese political systems, but economics common sense tells me Jack Ma spat out quite some hypocritical BS there.