U.S. off-price retailer Walmart was cited for alleged 19 cybersecurity breaches in China, state media reported last week.
In early 2021, Chinese shoppers are buying imported products from around the world at Walmart Sam’s Club.Sam’s Club is one of the largest membership stores in the world
“It is reported that on November 25, 2021, the public security organs discovered 19 exploitable network security loopholes in the Walmart network system. [the company] System vulnerabilities were not dealt with in a timely manner” Say China Quality News, the mouthpiece of China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) regulator, issued a canned statement in Chinese.
It claimed this violated the country’s Internet Security Law of the People’s Republic of China.
In addition to ordering the U.S. parent company to correct its cybercrime, it issued a warning of administrative penalties and handed over to Walmart “in December 2021,” the news outlet said. There is currently no evidence that financial penalties have been issued.
The timing of the announcement is odd, given reports earlier this week that Walmart subsidiary Sam’s Club does not stock Xinjiang-made goods.
Xinjiang remains an area of tension in U.S.-China relations because of widespread perceptions in the Western world that China’s ethnic minority Muslim Uighur population is being held in closely monitored internment camps and subjected to human rights abuses. China denies allegations of abuse of power in the region.
Sam’s Club claim It sold more than 4 million Chinese members in 36 stores in 23 cities in November, and said its e-commerce platform covers “most parts of the country”. Shoppers at Sam’s Club are now canceling their memberships in droves due to domestic sentiments about playing politics, according to a Reuters recording of a phone call with local analysts.
according to newswireThe membership-based retail warehouse chain privately told analysts that the whole thing was a misunderstanding and that Xinjiang products didn’t show up on the app because it didn’t have the ability to search for products by place name.
However, at the end of December, Sam’s Club received whipping From China’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, it accused Sam’s Club of “secretly” and “malicious” removing products, and offered “deceptive excuses” that the products were simply out of stock.
“Removing all products in a region for no reason is with ulterior motives, exposing stupidity and shortsightedness, and will surely suffer its own evil consequences,” the agency said, translated into Chinese. The agency continued to accuse Sam’s Club of “dirty boycotts” of Chinese products and promised consumers would retaliate by withdrawing sponsorships.
The statement then listed H&M and Intel as other “Western anti-China forces…they have advertised no political interference” [and] Hit yourself in the face with your actions. “
In December last year, Intel released statement They regret a letter to suppliers warning them to avoid using labor or goods from Xinjiang.
As China Quality News pointed out this week, Walmart has had several violations leading to fines in the past year, including a 5,000 yen ($785) fine in August 2021 for mischievous advertising and a November 2021 fine Fined 474 yen ($74) for bad behavior. product quality. ® ®
