Xi Is Right to Close the Pandora’s Box Manus Opened

China is ordering Meta Platforms Inc. to cancel its acquisition of AI startup Manus only weeks before a much-anticipated meeting between US President Donald Trump and his counterpart Xi Jinping.

The abruptness and the timing — the deal was sealed four months prior and Meta has already integrated Manus into some of its tools — is sending shock waves through the venture capital world. It’s reminiscent of Beijing’s last-minute decision to halt Ant Group Co.’s $34 billion public listing in late 2020, the first shot of a yearslong regulatory crackdown on big tech companies that ended with multibillion-dollar losses for global investors.