Chinese Launch Espionage Investigation Against Coca-Cola

Chinese authorities have opened an espionage investigation against Coca-Cola Co. for allegedly making illegal maps of restricted areas in China, according to a South China Morning Post report Thursday. 

"What we can say for now is that many subsidiaries of Coca-Cola are involved and this happens in many provinces," the report quoted an unidentified Chinese official as saying, adding that the Ministry of State Security was involved in the probe. 

Among the issues was the use of hand-held GPS devices to collect sensitive geographic information in Yunnan province, the report said. 

It quoted a Coca-Cola statement Wednesday as saying the company was "cooperating fully" with the investigation, and that GPS devices involved used "digital map and customer logistic systems commercially available in China." (more)

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