The US believes that the Chinese group Alibaba supports China's military operations – media

The memo, dated November 1 this year, contains intelligence information about the methods used by Alibaba to provide assistance to the Chinese army. In the opinion of American intelligence, this cooperation threatens US security.

Alibaba is to share information about customers with the Chinese government and military, including their IP addresses, WiFi usage, payments and use of AI services.

Alibaba is a Chinese group that specializes in retail, including e-commerce (AliExpress), finance, internet delivery services and cloud computing services.

The FT noted that it could not verify the intelligence information contained in the note and did not obtain comments from the White House or the CIA. However, the Alibaba group responded to the FT's question by denying the information. “The claims allegedly based on US intelligence data provided by your source are completely nonsense. It is a simple attempt to manipulate public opinion and smear Alibaba,” the FT quoted the response as saying.

The memo does not specify the purpose of the People's Liberation Army in the US, while US intelligence warned earlier this year that China could damage US infrastructure in a way that could be used in a conflict with the US.

Former CIA China analysis chief Dennis Wilder was quoted by the FT as saying that the Chinese military is conducting “widespread and daily attacks against US critical infrastructure, including airports, seaports and other critical transport hubs for US troops in the Pacific, but also inside the US.” In his opinion, China wants to create a base to be used in a strategy that can be used in a military conflict.

The Chinese embassy in Washington responded to “FT” accusing the US of “completely distorting the facts” and assuring that Beijing is improving its legislation specifically in terms of data privacy protection and in the context of the use of AI.

The FT noted that the memo was drawn up “immediately after US President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea” and the politicians agreed on a one-year “ceasefire” on trade. The newspaper noted that some American politicians, including Republican ones, agree with the intelligence assessment and appeal for protection against Alibaba's activities. In May this year A group of members of Congress asked the US stock exchange regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to delist the shares of 25 Chinese companies, including Alibaba, due to their ties with the Chinese army and the Chinese “military-civilian fusion” program.

Reuters quoted Alibaba's statement as saying that “we question the motivation behind this anonymous leak.” “This malicious PR operation clearly comes from dissents seeking to undermine President Trump's recent trade agreement with China.”

In August this year the media described the consequences of the introduction of US tariffs on low-value shipments, including those delivered by Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Shein, Temu and AliExpress (Alibaba group).