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Chinese smartphone brand Vivo vows support for executives arrested in India amid geopolitical tensions
- India’s financial-crime-fighting agency has arrested four Vivo executives as part of money-laundering investigation
- Vivo, the second most popular smartphone brand in India, is among several Chinese companies that have come under regulatory scrutiny
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Iris Dengin Shenzhen
Chinese smartphone maker Vivo has vowed to “exercise all available legal options” to help its four executives arrested in India, as mainland businesses contend with rising geopolitical tensions between Beijing and New Delhi.
The executives, including one Chinese national, were arrested on Tuesday by India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED), an agency responsible for fighting financial crimes, according to a report by Reuters citing anonymous sources.
Dongguan-based Vivo “firmly adheres to its ethical principles and remains dedicated to legal compliance”, the company said in a statement to the South China Morning Post on Wednesday. “The recent arrest deeply concerns us. We will exercise all available legal options.”
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Indian authorities raided dozens of Vivo’s offices in July last year on suspicion of money laundering, following similar actions against its Chinese peers Xiaomi and Huawei Technologies in the world’s second-largest smartphone market.
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India lodges formal protest with China over new map that lays claim to disputed territory
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In December, India’s revenue intelligence unit, a branch of the Finance Ministry, held up some 27,000 Vivo smartphones worth nearly US$15 million at a New Delhi airport, preventing the company’s Indian unit from exporting the devices to neighbouring markets, according to a report by Bloomberg at the time.
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