Chinese spies are being planted in some of America's biggest companies to steal 'sensitive information'
China is placing corporate spies into Microsoft and other major American companies posing a huge national security threat DailyMail.com can reveal.
A new law that went into effect in China on July 1 mandates that foreign companies in the country with 300 or more employees must delegate an 'employee representative' to their Beijing-based affiliate's board of directors.
This representative is likely an individual planted by the CCP to be friendly to the socialist government, a House aide told DailyMail.com.
And not only that but the representative could act as 'both a disciplinary tool and an intelligence-gathering tool for the Chinese Communist Party.'
One company that could be subject to the new law is Microsoft, which boasts a robust presence in the communist-run country.
President Joe Biden, left, greets China's President President Xi Jinping in Woodside, Calif., Nov, 15, 2023. An aide from the House of Representatives told DailyMail.com that China's new restrictions could present a security risk to U.S. companies
'Once you’re on the board, you are privy to all sorts of incredibly sensitive information, incredibly sensitive decision-making and you can exert a substantial amount of pressure on the people that are on the ground in China,' the source told DailyMail.com.
These employee directors could be 'activated as needed' to accomplish the CCP's clandestine goals, the source continued.
The role on the board would put the presumably CCP-aligned representative in direct contact with important company decision makers and proprietary strategy.
They then could apply pressure to ascertain specific employee data such as addresses and spouse information, the aide added.
A man walks past Microsoft's local headquarters in Beijing on July 20, 2021, the day after the US accused Beijing of carrying out the cyber attack on Microsoft and charged four Chinese nationals over the "malicious" hack
The House aide stressed that large multinational American corporations like Microsoft could be targeted under the new Chinese law
'If one day they want to exert pressure on Microsoft or any of the many other multinational companies that operate there, they know who to call,' the House source said.
'What they’re going to do is just steal all the data, every single bit of data.'
Microsoft did not immediately return a request for comment.
These new board members could take minutes at meetings and report them to the CCP or even coerce subordinates to carry out actions in the interest of the party.
A particular worry stressed by the source were 'pressure points' that could be exposed by these board members.
Not to say how it could help the CCP poach top talent and access sensitive documents as the member could see 'employee data.'
The front desk of a Microsoft office in Beijing, China
'This is their wife. This is where they live. You know, this is where the kid goes to school,' the source warned.
'It is an act of slow-moving suicide for all these companies to stay in China in these arrangements. It is malpractice of the highest order and arguably a violation of basic business judgment.'
Apple, Google and Walmart did not immediately return requests for comment.
