China Detains Staff, Raids Office Of US Due Diligence Firm Mintz Group

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Chinese authorities raided the office of US corporate due diligence firm Mintz Group in Beijing and detained five local staff, the company said, stoking concern among foreign companies in China just as it hosts an international economic forum.
The raid and detentions comes as Sino-US relations have spiraled downwards following months of diplomatic tensions, including over the US military downing in February of a suspected Chinese spy balloon and a planned US transit next week by the president of Taiwan, the self-governed island China claims as its territory.
We can confirm that Chinese authorities have detained the five staff in Mintz Group’s Beijing office, all of them Chinese nationals, and have closed our operations there, the company said in an emailed statement late on Thursday.
It said it was ready to work with the Chinese authorities to resolve any misunderstanding that may have led to these events, and that its top concern was the safety and wellbeing of colleagues in China.
Mintz Group has not received any official legal notice regarding a case against the company and has requested that the authorities release its employees, the company said.