Jack Ma Was Not Detained By The Chinese Government, Only Asked To Be Quiet

JAKARTA - The disappearance of Jack Ma from public view is still a mystery. Just imagine, from October last year until now he and his family were nowhere to be seen.

Various speculations emerged, after Jack Ma criticized the Chinese government. Especially after President Xi Jinping ordered Chinese regulators to investigate the financial technology company Ant Group, initiated by Jack Ma.

However, this was denied by a senior market analyst at Oanda's research bureau, Jeffrey Halley, who said that the issue of Jack Ma being detained by the Chinese government was not true.

"There is no evidence that Jack Ma has been detained and they really have no reason to detain him," Halley said as quoted by Fortune, Wednesday, January 6.

Halley assessed that currently, Jack Ma was only asked to be silent and not speak out in public first, following allegations of anti-trust and anti-monopoly by his company.

"Jack Ma may have volunteered to choose a very low profile first while he let the people he worked with, work with regulators to come to an acceptable conclusion," continued Halley.

On the other hand, Jack Ma has often helped the Chinese government in any way, including the economic sector, he may have been asked not to talk much first, until the problems that befell his company are resolved.

"I think Jack Ma was told to shut up first. This is a pretty unique situation, due to the large scale of Ant companies and sensitive financial regulations," said Alibaba consultant Duncan Clark.

It is known that the two companies founded by Jack Ma, namely Ant Financial and Alibaba, are being officially investigated by the Chinese government regarding the monopoly case. It is clear that the Chinese government does not want private businesses like the two companies to get out of hand.

However, a different opinion was conveyed by CNBC International journalist David Faber who quoted anonymous sources and said that Jack Ma did not disappear. He's just trying to avoid the public eye.

"He did not appear in public with a specific purpose and is expected to be like that for some time to come," said Faber.

Faber added that it is possible that Jack Ma is currently in Hangzhou, where the city is the headquarters of the Alibaba Group.