Corporate Intimidation and Censorship in China

Since China’s rise as a global trade giant, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has leveraged its position in the global economy to intimidate foreign companies into becoming indirect messengers of its political ideology. Since the 1990s, the Chinese government has exerted pressure on foreign companies doing business in China to ensure that their practices are in line with the CCP’s ideology, including, for example, adherence to the One-China principle. Starting in 2016, a new wave of  crackdowns aimed at foreign companies doing business in China commenced. Lancome, Zara, Mercedes-Benz, Apple, Gap, Leica, and various global airlines and hotel chains all faced intimidation from the Chinese government for touching on “sensitive topics” such as the One-China principle and Tibet. But such cases were mostly sporadic until 2019.