Alibaba Internal Sexual Harassment... Two Including Supervisor Arrested

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Two employees have been arrested after allegations of sexual assault within Alibaba, China's largest e-commerce company, were confirmed as true following a public security investigation.

According to major foreign media on the 15th, public security authorities announced in a statement yesterday that they arrested two former executives?one from Alibaba and one from its partner distribution company Hualian Supermarket?on charges of forcibly molesting a female Alibaba employee.

The statement revealed that the female Alibaba employee was heavily intoxicated and lost consciousness during a dinner with her superior and representatives from the partner company while on a business trip, and was subsequently sexually assaulted by her superior and partner company personnel.

The public security authorities explained that although there are suspicious circumstances suggesting rape, such as the two suspects preparing contraceptive devices before forcibly molesting the victim, there is currently insufficient evidence to confirm crimes beyond forcible molestation, and further investigation will continue.

Earlier, the female Alibaba employee reported the incident to the company but did not receive proper protection.

As the company failed to take appropriate measures such as protecting the victim and conducting a thorough investigation, the female employee took direct action by creating and distributing flyers in the company cafeteria to raise awareness of the incident.

The post she made on Alibaba’s internal bulletin board quickly spread across Chinese internet platforms like Weibo, drawing significant attention nationwide.

Amid antitrust crackdowns by Chinese regulatory authorities and emerging allegations of internal sexual violence cover-ups, Alibaba is facing its worst crisis since its founding.

In response to mounting criticism, Alibaba Chairman Daniel Zhang issued an official apology and proposed improvements, including establishing a separate organization responsible for handling reports and investigations related to sexual harassment and assault, but the backlash has not subsided.

Tarang Qingnian, affiliated with the Communist Party’s official newspaper People’s Daily, recently commented, "Many suspect that Alibaba mobilized online promotional organizations to prevent the sexual violence case within the company from becoming an issue," and criticized, "When a giant corporation fails to fulfill its social responsibilities, it will not be defeated and overthrown in business wars but by the people."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.