Are Beijing’s tensions with Jack Ma a harbinger of a wider reckoning to come?

My guess is that this bull run for China continues for another decade, then serious tests over the future for China’s economy and society will emerge, writes Hamish McRae

The business tycoon has been keeping a relatively low profile in recent months (AP)

The political pressure on Jack Ma continues to mount. The latest twist to the saga are reports that the Chinese authorities require him to divest his media enterprises, including the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong.

For anyone who does not follow his activities, Ma is the founder of Alibaba, and so is China’s equivalent of Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon. Last October he called for reform of the country’s financial regulatory system and since then he has been under pressure from the government. He disappeared from public sight, and while he is well and active, the government pressure clearly continues to climb. The message is clear. Entrepreneurs are welcome to make their fortunes but they must never criticise the government or the Communist Party.

So what should the rest of us make of all this? Is it part of a wider assertiveness of the Chinese authorities, in parallel to the increased pressure on Taiwan and the squeeze on the independence of Hong Kong?