West hypes ‘ leaked’ CPC member list

▶ Foreign firms in China voice respect for employees’ political affiliation

Some Western media, using an alleged name list of 1.95 million members of the Communist Party of China ( CPC), have launched a new round of witch hunt by accusing the people on the list of working in foreign consulates in China and foreign companies’ Chinese branches for intelligence purposes, even though the authenticity of the database has been highly questionable.

Observers said that the narrative that connects CPC membership to intelligence work and security risks was “ridiculous.”

CPC members are working in foreign consulates in Shanghai and Chinese branches of major foreign companies, including IKEA, Volkswagen and Pfizer, an Australian media outlet the Australian and the UK’s Sunday Mail reported, citing a “leaked document” presented by the Inter- Parliamentary Alliance on China, a newly established ideologically driven group of some 150 legislators, including US anti- China Senator Marco Rubio.

The leaked name list involves 1.95 million people and includes their birth dates, positions, ID numbers and some phone numbers.

Ignoring the fact that it constituted a massive privacy breach, Western media hyped the list as evidence of CPCsponsored intelligence activities, despite failing to prove that any of the 1.95 million is connected to intelligence affairs.

The reports described the stealing of CPC members’ private information as a brave action to reveal the Party’s structure and “infiltration,” without mentioning its illegal nature and harm it caused to those alleged Party members who are just ordinary people.

The database may also be fabricated, said Chen Hong, a professor at East China Normal University, whose name is on the list, noting that he was never a member of the CPC.

Volkswagen China told the Global Times that joining any political party is an employee’s personal decision and they do not interfere. Volkswagen respects every employee’s political affiliation globally and their business will not be affected.

IKEA, one of the companies said to have CPC members on its payroll, also said “We don’t have knowledge of, or an interest in, our co- workers’ political party affiliations.”

Stigmatizing and demonizing the CPC is not a new trick for the anti- China clique. But hyping the threat of CPC members to companies and organizations in China is even more sinister, as they are pointing fingers at Chinese nationals working in Chinese territory, Chen said, warning that “such moves aim to sow discord between the CPC and Chinese people.”

“We don’t have knowledge of, or an interest in, our co- workers’ political party affiliations.”

IKEA one of the companies said to have CPC member employees