Jack Ma on the State of Alibaba and Alipay

The silence surrounding the intrigue and tumult over the recent Alibaba dispute was finally broken after this week's Caixin editorial "Why Jack Ma is Wrong," prompted Jack Ma to personally contact Caixin's chief editor Hu Shuli at 1 am Beijing time on June 12.

It marked the first time that Ma spoke to the media since the beginning of the controversy. The candid, off-the-cuff discussions between Ma and Hu covered the topics of protectionism in the U.S. and changes to the managerial structure of Alibaba.