BUSINESS OF SECURITY MEETING

EXECUTIVE’S ARREST TOPS AGENDA

AT A CLOSED-DOOR security meeting of US companies in Singapore on Thursday, one topic was high on the agenda: the arrest of a top executive at Chinese tech giant Huawei and the potential backlash on American firms operating in China. Officials from major US companies who attended the event, a scheduled meeting of the local chapter of the US Department of State’s Overseas Security Advisory Council, voiced concerns about retaliation against American firms and their executives. A number of participants said their companies were considering restricting non-essential China travel and looking to move meetings outside the country, one source said. Security executives for companies including Walt Disney, Google, Facebook and PayPal Holdings attended the meeting. Following publication of the story, Google spokesperson Taj Meadows said it “misrepresents” what happened. He asserted that there was “no discussion on the record or behind closed doors about the arrest of a top Huawei executive or about American companies operating in China.” Meadows also said he was not at the meeting and could not say whether participants discussed China travel informally. The discussions at the meeting underscored concerns rippling through US businesses in the world’s second largest economy. I Reuters