New evidence suggests that Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma was drawn into a transnational repression effort by the Chinese government, aimed at coercing a Singaporean businessman living in France to return to China and testify against a disgraced Chinese official.
The businessman, identified only as "H" to protect his family in China, was subjected to a prolonged campaign of pressure that allegedly included the involvement of Ma himself.
The campaign was intended to force H to assist in the prosecution of Sun Lijun, a former deputy public security minister who had fallen from political grace and become a target of President Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti-corruption purge.
Documents and phone transcripts, reviewed by The Guardian and compiled as part of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ (ICIJ) China Targets project, provide detailed insights into how Chinese authorities pursue dissidents or politically useful figures overseas. The investigation shows a pattern involving threats, the abuse of international legal systems like Interpol’s red notice, and the involvement of prominent Chinese citizens in extrajudicial pressure efforts.
H, once a longtime acquaintance of Ma, had relocated to Bordeaux, France. A year before Ma’s call, Chinese authorities issued an arrest warrant for H on financial crime charges related to investments in Tuandai.com, a credit platform whose founder had been imprisoned. Chinese officials alleged H had helped move illicit funds overseas, claims H denies.
By April 2021, Ma allegedly phoned H and conveyed a message from Chinese security officials: cooperate with the government, and the charges would be dropped. According to recorded transcripts submitted to a French court, Ma told H, “They said I’m the only one who can persuade you to return,” and warned him that the situation would worsen if he refused. He added that the matter wasn’t truly about H, but about securing testimony against Sun Lijun.
Ma, once a symbol of Chinese entrepreneurial success, had himself been sidelined by the Chinese government after a 2020 speech criticising financial regulators. He vanished from public view for months and faced massive fines. His call to H came during this period of apparent pressure from authorities.
As part of the campaign against H, Chinese police reportedly detained his sister and issued a red notice through Interpol — an international alert that prevented H from leaving France. Legal experts warn that such notices are often manipulated by authoritarian regimes to target dissidents under the guise of criminal charges. Ted R. Bromund, an expert on Interpol misuse, likened red notices to "a pin through a butterfly," immobilising individuals without due process.
In addition to Ma’s outreach, H received multiple threatening and persuasive calls from Chinese security officials and mutual acquaintances, urging his return and suggesting immunity if he complied. At times, he was promised leniency; at others, warned that his entire family would be arrested — a threat partially realised when his sister was taken into custody.
Despite the pressure, H did not return to China.
In July 2021, a French court rejected China’s extradition request, citing political motivations behind the red notice. Interpol later removed the alert from its system. Meanwhile, Sun Lijun was convicted in China and handed a suspended death sentence — without H’s testimony.
Though Jack Ma’s involvement was questioned by some, H’s legal team maintained that he and Ma had a longstanding relationship and that the voice in the call was undeniably the billionaire’s. Representatives for Ma have not provided further comment, and he has not directly responded to the allegations.
Ma has since re-emerged in China, most notably at a business gathering where he publicly applauded President Xi — a move seen by observers as part of his political rehabilitation.
Reflecting on the ordeal, H’s lawyer Clara Gérard-Rodriguez noted how even powerful figures like Jack Ma were ultimately brought to heel. “We saw Jack Ma disappear, and then reappear showing his loyalty,” she said. “That’s what they expected of H too — to return and prove which side he was on.”