Huawei, Alibaba, Tencent Among 7 Companies Suspected For Deep Links With Chinese Army; Indian Govt May Take Action

Indian Government is reportedly suspecting 7 companies of having deep links with China's PLA. It may take action against them if the worries are corroborated.

Representational Image: Getty

New Delhi: As per reports, global companies of Chinese origin like Huawei, Alibaba and others are under the government's scanner for having a direct or indirect link with China's Army and they may soon face action in India. The development comes close on the heels of the ban imposed by Indian govt on 59 Chinese apps following the Galwan Valley clash between the two countries, in which 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives. According to government sources, there are 7 such Chinese companies that are being suspected of having deep links with the People's Liberation Army (PLA). These are Huawei, Alibaba, Tencent, Xindia Steels, Xinxing Cathay international, China electronic technology group and  SAIC motor corporation. The government can potentially come down heavily on them. Chinese telecom company Huawei which faced a ban in the US over ties with China is reported to have revenue of Rs 12800 crore in FY 2018-19 from its Indian operators. The founder of the company Ren Zhengfei was formerly a deputy director at the PLA’s engineering corps. Other than the US, it is facing global issues over 5G with countries like Japan, UK and Australia. Companies like Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent are a part of several important projects in China such as their military-civil fusion and artificial intelligence projects. A 2019 report of US-China economic and security review commission stated, "under China's military-civil fusion policy, government-supported mechanisms, including venture capital (VC) funds...(are used for) leveraging the fruits of civilian innovation for China’s defence sector". Alibaba has invested in popular Indian start-ups like Paytm, Zomato, Big basket, Xpressbees and Snapdeal. Tencent has investments of about $400 million in Ola cabs, $700 million in Flipkart. It is also behind popular gaming apps like PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty Mobile, Fortnite and others. Besides the digital space, Chinese firms have also entered other sectors in India. The metal products manufacturing Xinxing Cathay International Group is in India through various ventures including a Joint Venture Xindia Steels Ltd. SAIC Motor Corporation which is a Chinese state-owned automobile company based in Shanghai sells the well-known MG Hector vehicle in India. One of its subsidiary, Nanjing Automobile previously was a servicing unit of PLA. Certain employees of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) were convicted of spying for the military. The technology it provides is accused of being used for committing human rights violations in China's Xinjiang province. How the matter develops further remains to be seen. WATCH | Rajanath Singh's visit to Lukung, Ladakh a clear message to China