Chinese authorities have accused Walmart of violating cybersecurity laws, local media reported, in the latest trouble for the US retailer that is already a target of accusations in the country for supposedly stopping sales of products from Xinjiang.
Police in Shenzhen’s Futian district discovered 19 “vulnerabilities” in Walmart’s network system in late November and accused it of being slow to fix the loopholes, China Quality News reported on Wednesday.
Walmart was ordered to make rectifications, and given “administrative penalties” but no further details were given.
China Quality News, a consumer publication, said Walmart was last year fined 474 yuan ($75) by the Futian market watchdog for “product quality violations” and fined another 5,000 yuan by the bureau, for “illegal advertising” in August 2021.
Last month, Walmart was accused of deliberately removing products sourced from Xinjiang from its apps and stores. However, a company representative denied the claims, saying products cannot be searched for by place of origin.
Xinjiang is a growing point of conflict between the Western governments and China, as UN experts and rights groups estimate more than a million people, mainly Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minorities, have been detained in camps there.
- George Russell, with Reuters
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