Alibaba
Founded by Jack Ma in 1999, Alibaba is China’s largest ecommerce company. It owns the shopping site Taobao, well known for its annual Singles Day mega sales -- which is bigger than Black Friday.
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BackPeople in Wuhan are rushing to get married after the lockdown ends
When Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, finally emerged from a 76-day lockdown on Wednesday, many of its citizens decided to mark the day with something special. A large number of users flooded the local online marriage application system, which is available to residents as a mini program within the payment app Alipay.
Unfortunately, the flood of romantics looking to get hitched nearly crashed the app. Alipay said in a post on microblogging platform Weibo that the system saw marriage applications jump 300% from the daily average in January and the first week of April. Applications were suspended in February and March. Alipay said on Twitter that it was surprised by the surge in users that slowed down the system but that the problem was now fixed.
(Abacus is a unit of the South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba, an affiliate of Alipay owner Ant Financial.)
Not everyone discovered love during the strict quarantine period. China saw sharp increases in divorce rates while couples were forced to spend more time together while stuck at home or ended up trapped in different parts of the country because of the lockdown. But for those encouraged to pop the question as the spread of the virus eases in the country, Alipay said it also has a useful service for the next phase of the relationship: People can use a mini program to see what names are too common when looking for a unique name for their baby.
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BackChina wants Twitter to shut down accounts that smear China
After Twitter shut down what it calls a Beijing-backed disinformation operation by banning more than 170,000 accounts, China has responded with a piece of curious advice.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters during a briefing on Friday that Twitter should shut down accounts that smear China if it wants to fight disinformation, Reuters reported. Hua said that many platforms had falsehoods about China and that there was a need for Chinese voices with objective views. But China itself is blocking Chinese voices from reaching Twitter: The platform is blocked inside the country.
On Thursday, Twitter removed state-linked accounts from China, Russia and Turkey for violating their platform manipulation policies. The company said the accounts spread “narratives favorable to the Communist Party of China” and pushed “deceptive narratives about the political dynamics in Hong Kong” where tensions have once again flared up over the new National Security Law.
This is not the first time Twitter has moved against Chinese state-backed operations on its platform. Last year in August, the platform removed over 900 accounts, which were part of a larger 200,000-strong army involved in a “coordinated state-backed operation” to allegedly sow political discord in Hong Kong.
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BackThis dock promises to turn your Switch into an arcade cabinet
The arcades aren't as big of a draw as they used to be. But if you miss the retro feel of joysticks and big round buttons, the Switch Fighter might help.
The accessory, which transforms a regular Nintendo Switch into a mini arcade cabinet, is seeking funding on Indiegogo. For US$99, the Hong Kong-based campaign promises to ship backers the Bluetooth-connected gadget, allowing them to “properly play classics like Street Fighter or King of Fighters.” It also serves as a dock for charging and TV output, according to the project page.
There’s a lot of caveats here: The project has a flexible goal, which means it’ll collect all contributions regardless of whether their funding target is reached. Also, Nintendo has previously warned users not to buy a third-party dock for their Switch.