New Delhi, Oct. 4 -- These days, if you have a billion dollars, you can say anything and people will think it is wisdom. Jack Ma, the co-founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, used to talk a lot, and candidly, which is rare for an Asian billionaire.

Less than two weeks before the giant initial public offering (IPO) of his financial company, Ant, he criticized China's financial regulators. Soon afterwards, the IPO was cancelled. Ma eventually lost control of the company. Alibaba itself came under investigation. Then, Ma disappeared for months. When he reappeared he was not so candid anymore.

Beijing had sent a signal to all its billionaires and the world that the Communist Party ran the show and that private enterprise was not enti...