KC Venugopal gives notice in RS over alleged Chinese surveillance on Indian leaders

Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP KC Venugopal has given Zero Hour notice in Rajya Sabha on the issue of Chinese surveillance on political leaders and key officials. Speaking on the media reports which spoke about a Chinese tech company gathering data and creating a database of several prominent Indian personalities including the Prime Minister, President, opposition politicians, bureaucrats, actors among others, Venugopal asked whether the government has taken any action in this regard, as the country is involved in a standoff at LAC with China.

"This is a serious issue and the government should give a clarification. How can Chinese companies do surveillance like this," the Congress MP questioned.

READ | Rajnath Singh's Statement On LAC Faceoff Angers Congress; Seeks Exposé Of China's Deceit

READ | Xi Jinping's Presidency In Threat? Here's Why China's Leader Could Lose His Job

Reports of Chinese watch over Indian personalities

Venugopal's intrigue was in connection with an Indian Express report which claimed that a Shenzen-based technology company with links to the Chinese government, and the Chinese Communist Party has been monitoring activities of over 10,000 prominent Indian organisations and individuals. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her family, Union Cabinet Ministers and several Chief Ministers are among the foreign targets in the global database of Zhenhua Data Information Technology Co Limited, as per the report.

Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat and 15 former Army, Navy and Air Force chiefs are also among the targets of the data tracking Chinese tech firm, besides Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, key bureaucrats, Indian entrepreneurs and industrialists including Ratan Tata and Gautam Adani, scientists, journalists, actors and even some of the criminals, the report said.

The reports of Chinese surveillance such as the magnitude of this remains a subject of serious concern in the light of this year's face-offs by Indian Army with the Chinese PLA's encroachments. 20 Indian Army personnel including a commanding rank officer were martyred on June 15 faceoff in Galwan valley in Eastern Ladakh. Reports stated that more than 40 casualties were inflicted on the Chinese PLA by Indian Army during the same faceoff. There were recent flare-ups as well in the Southern banks of Pangong Tso lake with the Indian Army thwarting the attempts of the Chinese army that tried to change the status quo unilaterally.

 Although both the nations have agreed upon dealing with the issue with peaceful dialogue and through regular de-escalation processes and confidence-building measures between the two nations, the armies of the Asian powers continue to remain on high alert with India vowing to not cede an inch of land to China. Also, the Indian Army occupied areas of strategic heights in the South Pangong Tso region while thwarting attempts of the Chinese to unilaterally change status quo.

READ | India & China Reach 5-point Consensus Amid LAC Tensions As Jaishankar Meets Wang Yi

READ | Chinese Envoy Hails Jaishankar-Wang Consensus As 'political Impetus' To Ease LAC Situation