Belgian intelligence service watches Alibaba hub for ‘espionage.’ On Thursday, the Financial Times (FT) reported that Belgium’s intelligence service has been watching China’s Alibaba Group Holding’s (9988. HK) primary European logistics base out of worry about potential espionage.
According to the newspaper, the security service stated that it was attempting to find “possible espionage or interference activities” by Chinese organizations, including Alibaba, at the company’s logistics facility at the cargo airport in the city of Liege.
It further said that Alibaba denied any wrongdoing. Requests for comment from Alibaba and the Belgian State Security Service (VSSE) were not promptly fulfilled. In 2018, Alibaba and the Belgian government agreed to build an e-commerce trade hub involving infrastructure investments in logistics and be managed by its logistics unit, Cainiao.
According to the newspaper, which relied on sources with knowledge of the situation, the Belgian security agency was keeping an eye on the firm’s operations “following intelligence assessments,” with the adoption of software systems that compile private economic data coming under particular examination.
Due to regulations requiring Chinese businesses to disclose their data to Chinese authorities and intelligence agencies, the Belgian security agency informed the Financial Times that the existence of Alibaba “constitutes a point of attention” for it.
Cainiao would become the first division to be broken out from Alibaba after the Chinese e-commerce giant announced this year that it would restructure and divide its business into six parts. Alibaba last month filed to list Cainiao on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
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