Chinese authorities raided the office of US due diligence company Mintz Group in Beijing and detained five local employees, the company said, raising concern amongst foreign firms in China because it hosts a world economic forum.
The news of the raid and detentions comes as Sino-US relations have soured sharply after months of diplomatic tension, including over the US military’s shooting down of a suspected Chinese spy balloon in February and the planned US transit next week by the president of Taiwan’s self-proclaimed-ruled an island claimed by China as its territory.
“We will confirm that Chinese authorities have detained five employees of Mintz Group’s Beijing office, all of whom were Chinese nationals, and have closed our operations there,” the company said in an announcement emailed to Reuters on Thursday.
He said he was able to work with Chinese authorities to “resolve any misunderstandings which will have led to those events”, and that his most important concern was the protection and well-being of colleagues in China.
“The Mintz Group has not received any official legal notice regarding the case against the company and has asked the authorities to fireplace its employees,” the company said.
![The Chinese authorities detained five employees of the Mintz Group office in Beijing, all Chinese nationals, and closed our operations there.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/newspress-collage-26274555-1679651289587.jpg?1679637022&w=1024&1679637022)
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Friday that she had no knowledge of the matter. The Beijing Public Security Bureau didn’t reply to a request for comment.
A source on the Latest York-based company previously told Reuters, on condition of anonymity, that the company’s local legal counsel said the raid took place on the afternoon of March 20 and employees were being held in solitary confinement somewhere outside of Beijing.
“RED ALERTS”
In keeping with the Mintz Group website, the Beijing office is the just one in mainland China. The web site says the company makes a speciality of background checks, fact-gathering and internal investigations. In keeping with media reports, his quite a few clients include the National Football League, Latest York and The Beatles.
Mintz has 18 offices world wide and lots of of employees. Randal Phillips, a partner within the company who heads its operations in Asia but is predicated outside of China, is listed on his website as the previous chief agent of the Central Intelligence Agency in China.
![Mintz has 18 offices around the world and hundreds of employees.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/AFP_33BX979.jpg?w=1024)
Phillips worked in Beijing for years after leaving the CIA. There was no indication that the incident was related to him, and Reuters was unable to contact him for comment.
The news of the raid and detentions comes as Beijing prepares to carry a three-day China Development Forum on Saturday, where executives from multinational corporations and representatives from international organizations might be among the many greater than 100 foreign delegates present.
A U.S. business official told Reuters that the Mintz Group incident sent an “remarkable signal” that Beijing wanted foreign money and technology but wouldn’t accept credible U.S. firms doing due diligence on Chinese partners or the business environment.
“Right now, red alerts for threats in China needs to be issued in all board meeting rooms,” said the source, who didn’t want to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the matter.
China said it welcomed foreign trade and investment but underlined it security is before development.
US firms operating in China are increasingly pessimistic about their prospects on this planet’s second-largest economy, in keeping with questionnaire published this month by the American Chamber of Commerce in China.
Two-thirds of respondents cited rising tensions between the US and China as their biggest business challenge.
Western due diligence firms have run into trouble with Chinese authorities before. British corporate detective Peter Humphrey and his American wife Yu Yingzeng, who ran risk consultancy ChinaWhys, were detained in 2013 after working for British pharmaceutical giant GSK.
An worker of one other foreign due diligence firm in China, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was unclear whether the Mintz Group was an isolated case or part of a wider crackdown.
Some firms “may now decide to be extra careful when doing due diligence in China,” the worker added.