The article mentioned that Tencent and Baidu CEOs are not CCP party members. It's not a big deal, one way or the other. Journalist and internet pundits simply like to play it up. Most of us don't understand much of the workings of the CCP, partly due to deliberate intransparency partly due to the language barrier. So it's fertile ground for all kinds of baseless speculation.
Even without language barrier, I think most of it is just the nature of politics and holding positions of power. It's not like many of us have a very good understanding of the inner workings of the higher cadres in the (D) and (R) parties, or of the leadership teams / boardrooms of large companies either.
Even without language barrier, I think most of it is just the nature of politics and holding positions of power. It's not like many of us have a very good understanding of the inner workings of the higher cadres in the (D) and (R) parties, or of the leadership teams / boardrooms of large companies either.