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Leading consulting company probed in counter-espionage action

Global Times

By Global Times Published: May 09, 2023 01:13 AM

The Suzhou state security bureau and other authorities in East China have carried out a joint enforcement action against leading consulting company Capvision's Suzhou branch, urging it to fulfill its responsibilities and obligations for counter-espionage, and to promote the sound development of the consulting industry, local media reports said on Monday.

The relevant departments made inquiries with the company personnel in accordance with the law and regulations. The law enforcement operation was jointly carried out in Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou, Shenzhen and other cities, according to the reports.

The national security organs have found that many overseas institutions with complex backgrounds have disguised their overseas background by using domestic consulting companies, with the purpose of stealing state secrets and intelligence from key sectors, according to China Central Television on Monday.

Founded in 2006, Capvision is a global expert network platform headquartered in New York and Shanghai, with more than 450,000 experts and 700 employees, according to the company's website.

"The company has more than 1,000 customers at home and abroad, with its business divided into three parts. Expert interview segment accounts for 80 percent of the total business and is primarily conducted through telephone interviews," said a police officer from Shanghai state security bureau, according to a CCTV report.

The company focuses mainly on influential experts in key fields and important industries such as policy research, national defense, finance, tech, energy and resources, medicine and health.

For a long time, in order to make profits, the company not only encouraged experts in key fields to disclose information during consultation; it also never let experts know the real identity of the clients in the name of protecting the clients' privacy, said the report.

A senior researcher at a large Chinese state-owned enterprise, surnamed Han, was sentenced to six years in prison for spying and illegally providing state secrets and intelligence, China Central Television reported.

At the invitation of Capvision in 2015, Han became an expert in the company and he downloaded confidential information in order to gain more profit.

Another expert surnamed Lei who was working for a military enterprise was suspected of illegally providing state secrets abroad.

When working with foreign-related consulting projects, these consulting companies frequently contact personnel involved with confidential information from government organs and other important sectors. They acquire all kinds of sensitive data illegally in the name of hiring industry consulting experts, posing a major risk to national security, said a police officer, according to the Jiangsu local media.

The state security organ and other authorities will intensify law enforcement against activities that endanger national security, such as illegal consulting. The companies and personnel involved shall be investigated for legal liability according to the law, said the police.

Chinese lawmakers on April 26 voted to adopt a revised Counter-Espionage Law, which will take effect on July 1, 2023. The revised law refines the definition of espionage, specifying acts such as conducting cyber-attacks against state organs, confidential-related units, or critical information infrastructure as acts of espionage.