also, wtf were Didi's leaders thinking?
The fact that they persisted reveals that they need to be taught a lesson and made an example of; not unlike the weak former CEO of tiktok.
I think a slight wake up call to the Chinese Gov came by the CEO of TikTok when he was planning to sell the company to please Trump.
However the bazooka which woke up the sleeping dragon (CPC) was Jack Ma openly/publically mocking regulators and politicians on their face in that infamous conference (meeting?).
That thing enraged the whole CPC leadership and finally brought the hammer down once and for all. The regulations were already ready or getting finalised but that Jack Ma speech catalysed the whole thing.
In the end what brought these people down is the no1 characteristic of capitalism, greed. They weren't satisfied with what they had and they wanted even more. Well guess what, they reached their hand out further than allowed, and as a result the CPC came in and cut it down