Chinese e-commerce giant PDD Holdings, which owns Temu, has moved its official headquarters from China to Ireland in recent days. As aggression from communist China continues to inflame tensions with the West and liberal democratic nations, more and more Chinese companies are trying to downplay their China-ties amid increasing aversion to the Chinese Communist Party in global trade.
Temu, a successful mass consumer online shopping platform, was founded in 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts, by parent company PDD Holdings Inc., which operates Pinduoduo—a cheaper version of Amazon—in China.
In a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), PDD Holdings listed Dublin as its “principal administrative office,” replacing its main office in Shanghai.
Temu is not the first Chinese company to make such a change.
Another Chinese e-commerce fast fashion company, Shein, which became popular in the United States before Temu, has also been downplaying its Chinese background.
In 2021, when Shein first became known in the United States, its website only said it was an “international” company, without saying where it was headquartered or mentioning China.
Today, Shein’s website states that it is headquartered in Singapore, as well as having “principal operations centers in the U.S. and other major global markets,” but makes no mention of China.
Social media giant TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance in Beijing, has also been denying that it is a Chinese company.
In the past year, as many as 500 Chinese companies have quietly re-listed or registered in Southeast Asian countries to hedge against political risks and China’s escalating tensions with the free world.
American economist Davy J. Wong told The Epoch Times of the recent trend, “The reason is to go international is to be in line with international standards, and to make the export of goods to the United States and Europe easier and cheaper. Due to the recent tension in Sino-European relations and Sino-U.S. relations, they want to swiftly transform into a non-Chinese company to reduce the international community’s aversion to their Chinese background.”
Wu Sezhi, deputy secretary-general of the Public Research Institute of Taiwan, told The Epoch Times that the motive behind PDD Holdings and other Chinese companies’ move is obvious.
“They hope to portray themselves as non-Chinese companies. After all, the international market pays attention to profitability and corporate brand image. They hope to lose the Chinese label, which is currently the biggest headache for Chinese companies going international.”
Security Concerns
According to international media reports, Temu’s sister company Pinduoduo was accused of spying on customers.
U.S. security experts found that the Chinese shopping app exploited about 50 Android system vulnerabilities to allow the app to access users’ location, contacts, calendar, notifications, and photo albums without the users’ consent. The software was found to also be able to change system settings and access users’ social media accounts and chat history. The software can also prevent itself from being uninstalled and track the activity of other shopping apps.
Security experts have described Pinduoduo as the “most dangerous malware ever seen” that is found in a mainstream app. In March, Google removed the app from its store.
China’s ruling communist party (CCP) passed an Intelligence Law in 2017, which stipulates that “any organization and citizen shall support, assist, and cooperate with national intelligence work in accordance with the law.”
On April 26, the CCP revised its “anti-espionage law” and expanded its definition and the power of Chinese national security personnel, allowing them to “review and retrieve data, [and] summon and inquire about property information.”
It also requires that Chinese citizens and organizations such as postal services, couriers, and telecommunications and Internet service providers to “provide necessary support and assistance.”
Chinese parent companies, such as the owners of TikTok and Temu, offer domestic versions and overseas versions of their apps in order to allay any security concerns of international users. The overseas versions of the apps of Chinese companies store a large amount of data belonging to American users.
He Chenghui, deputy secretary-general of the Taiwan National Security Institute, told The Epoch Times, “The Chinese government uses the intelligence law to require all Chinese companies to assist the government in intelligence gathering when necessary. When the Chinese government directly exerts pressure and forces private companies to cooperate, simply changing the companies addresses is just a cover-up and cannot prevent private companies from complying with the requirements of China’s intelligence law.”
Wong said, “Pinduoduo’s renamed Temu cannot avoid the rules stipulated in the intelligence law, because the organizations and citizens defined in the intelligence law are very broad, and the power of interpretation belongs to Beijing. It thinks that you are a Chinese citizen and a Chinese company, so you must cooperate with it. Even a company like TikTok cannot evade this law, as Beijing has the power to interpret its reach.”
Wu said that although Pinduoduo has changed its listed address and headquarters, it has not changed its relationship with China. The binary confrontation between democracy and totalitarianism is becoming more and more prominent, he added. They must choose which value system to stand in.
He Chenghui pointed out, “If Chinese enterprises want to continue to maintain their strength in the international community, they must embrace the values of freedom and democracy and the operating norms of society. Only then can they have continued development and strength. Otherwise, if Chinese enterprises continue to be ambivalent between democracy and totalitarianism, colluding with the Chinese regime to benefit each other, it will be difficult for them to survive the competition in the international community.”
Song Tang and Yi Ru contributed to this report.
