Former Chinese Tech executive Details State Security Integration with Industry, Including Likely Huawei Involvement
PARIS – Decades after fleeing China following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, Wan Runnan, once hailed as “ChinaS IBM” for his company Stone Group, has revealed details of a systematic effort by China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) to embed agents within domestic technology companies during the late 1980s.Wan, now in failing health in Paris, recounted a dinner with local officials who informed him the MSS would be placing undercover agents in international relations positions within his firm, ostensibly for security purposes.
According to Wan, the officials framed the move as a protective measure, stating his company faced “security issues” due to its international business and that the agents would help him avoid “situations that you don’t understand.” He was instructed to treat the agents as regular employees. Wan believes this practice extended to other Beijing-based tech companies around the same time.
While acknowledging Huawei was a smaller startup in Shenzhen at the time and “not yet on anyone’s radar,” Wan stated he believes its “a certainty” that Huawei also faced similar demands from state intelligence. He explained the strategic importance of telecommunications, noting it controls a nation’s “lifeline” and that all interaction systems possess a “back-end platform that could be used for eavesdropping.”
Wan’s account is a rare instance of an executive publicly discussing the MSS’s relationship with China’s tech sector - a topic typically shrouded in secrecy globally. The revelation echoes concerns raised by disclosures from Edward Snowden regarding the NSA’s foreign operations,which led to his exile in Russia. Wan himself risks arrest if he were to return to China.
the details emerge as scrutiny intensifies regarding Huawei’s global reach and potential security risks. Recent books, including reviews in The Wall Street Journal and Foreign Affairs, have explored Huawei’s rise to dominance and its connections to the Chinese government.
