Mintz Group: Chinese authorities close Beijing offices of US firm, detaining five local staff
CNNMar 24, 2023
US-based corporate investigations firm Mintz Group said Friday its Beijing office was raided by Chinese authorities and all five of its Chinese employees were detained.
In a statement, the company said it has closed its operations in China and had "received no advance notice of the actions taken in Beijing this week, nor has the company received any official legal notice regarding a case against the company."
As it looks to evade global business ethics rules, Beijing has a history of arresting due diligence company employees who pose a threat to its authoritarian, monopolistic hold on both domestic and foreign business conducted within its borders. After imprisoning a former British corporate investigator and his American wife in 2013, the Chinese Communist Party has again arbitrarily kidnapped employees of a legitimate corporate watchdog.
China has a right to detain anyone it might suspect of nefarious acts on its soil. With limited information on this incident — especially regarding whether Randal Phillips, the CIA veteran who’s now the head of Mintz Group’s Asia division, has anything to do with the situation — the US shouldn't be so quick to accuse China of wrongdoing.