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Alibaba rape allegation reveals China tech industry's toxic culture
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The allegations against Alibaba may have shocked the Chinese technology industry and the public, but it should not have surprised them.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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HANGZHOU (NYTIMES) - For years, as Alibaba turned from a scrappy Chinese start-up into an e-commerce behemoth, some of its business units welcomed new employees with an ice-breaking ceremony that alarmed many of those who endured it.
Fresh hires were required to answer deeply personal questions in front of their colleagues, according to former employees: about their first loves, their first kiss and their first sexual encounters. The questions were phrased in ways that are not printable in a newspaper, they said.
