Indian police have accused Chinese smartphone makers Xiaomi and Vivo Mobile of helping to illegally transfer funds to a news portal under investigation. This was reported by Reuters with reference to a police report.
We are talking about the news resource NewsClick. Its founder-editor, Prabir Purkayastha, was accused of conspiring with a little-known group to undermine India’s sovereignty and provoke discontent among citizens.
According to the report, significant funds were transferred from China to promote biased news that criticized Indian policies and projects but defended Chinese programs.
The document also says that major Chinese telecommunications companies such as Xiaomi, Vivo and others have registered thousands of shell companies in India “to illegally inject foreign funds into India to facilitate this conspiracy.”
A Xiaomi India spokesperson denied the allegations against the company.
“Xiaomi conducts its business operations with utmost respect to, and in strict compliance of applicable laws. Any allegation of conspiracy is completely baseless,” the company said.
As a reminder, relations between India and China deteriorated sharply after a military clash in the Galwan Valley in the Himalayas, during which at least 24 soldiers were killed.
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