Alibaba’s Jack Ma cancels speech to counterfeit group

Alibaba announced the move Tuesday after last week’s suspension of the company’s membership in the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, a small but influential group that lobbies U.S. officials and testifies before Congress.

According to an investigation by the Associated Press, Barchiesi had stock in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., had close ties to an Alibaba executive and had used family members to help run the coalition.

The group’s website listed Ma scheduled to talk Thursday about the importance of e-commerce and Alibaba’s efforts to protect intellectual property rights on its platforms.