Why China’s new spying law has foreign firms scratching their heads, scrambling like a ‘scared monkey’

In March, authorities raided the office of American due diligence firm Mintz Group in Beijing and detained five staff members. In April, local police visited the Shanghai office of US consulting giant Bain & Company and questioned its staff. And in May, state media disclosed that authorities had raided multiple Chinese offices of international consultancy Capvision.

Ultimately, the consultant cancelled his trip and arranged instead for his China team’s leader to come to the United States.

Declining to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, he said his firm has been very careful with compliance in China. However, as an American passport holder, he is still worried, given the state of affairs between the two countries.

“I am not 100 per cent sure if I will be safe in China, because the line defining legit information and intelligence has moved, and we are trying to find out where the new line is,” he said.

“As of now, it indeed looks like China is only trying to kill the chicken to scare the monkey. Yes, they have succeeded. I am a scared monkey.”