Zuckerberg's China visit fuels Facebook rumours
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.In the rest of the world he's a precocious mogul and Time magazine's person of the year; in China, though, Mark Zuckerberg is almost unknown. Now, after pictures of him visiting Beijing's biggest internet company have appeared online, feverish speculation has erupted over whether he could be set to change that by taking his social networking site, Facebook, into the one country that has resisted its charms.
That Mr Zuckerberg is in Beijing this week might alone be enough to trigger rumours as to his intentions – even if it is nominally for a holiday with his girlfriend Priscilla Chan and no other entourage. But when he was spotted yesterday at the headquarters of Baidu, the giant Chinese search engine company, with its chief executive, Robin Li, the reaction reached a pitch of excitement far beyond what is good for most people's health.
Any alliance was denied by Baidu's spokesman. But there is little doubt that the Chinese market remains a tempting prize for the 26-year-old Mr Zuckerberg. Facebook has been blocked by the Chinese government, denying him access to the country's 300 million regular internet users.
Indeed, Mr Zuckerberg earlier this year revealed he is studying Mandarin Chinese and described his appetite for conquering the country of 1.6 billion people at a conference in California: "It's kind of a personal challenge this year, I'm taking an hour a day and I'm learning Chinese.
"I'm trying to understand the language, the culture, the mindset – it's just such an important part of the world. How can you connect the whole world if you leave out a billion-six people?"
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments