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Alibaba condemns FT report on firm’s alleged PLA ties as ‘completely false’, ‘malicious’
The report appears to undermine the recent bilateral trade talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart, Donald Trump
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Coco Fengin Guangdong
Alibaba Group Holding on Saturday dismissed a Financial Times report alleging its connection with the Chinese military and questioned if the accusation was an attempt to sabotage US President Donald Trump’s recent deal with Beijing.
The report said Alibaba was supplying the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) with unspecified capabilities that the White House claimed would threaten US national security, citing a memo that included declassified top-secret intelligence.
“The assertions and innuendos in the article are completely false,” an Alibaba spokesman said on Saturday. “We question the motivation behind the anonymous leak, which the FT admits that they cannot verify.”
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“This malicious PR operation clearly came from a rogue voice looking to undermine President Trump’s recent trade deal with China,” the spokesman added.
Hangzhou-based Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
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The report – published early Saturday morning, Hong Kong time – cited a White House memo that claimed Alibaba provided the Chinese government and the PLA with access to customer data, including internet protocol addresses, Wi-fi information, payment records and artificial intelligence services.
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