Renault Motors France's "Chinese Spy Case" has been confirmed out of nothing

With the progress of the French judicial department's investigation work, the so-called Renault Motor Company’s “Chinese spy case” reported by the French media at the beginning of January of this year was confirmed to be nothing but a hype. On March 14, Renault Motors issued an announcement and officially apologized to the three former senior executives. Renault acknowledged the "mistakes" of the three employees and promised to "restore their reputation."

At the beginning of January this year, Renault Motors, a famous French company, announced to the media that the company had decided to suspend the three senior executives. Renault suspects that the three employees are suspected of leaking company secrets to the outside world, especially the situation that the company plans to launch in 2012. Renault decided to take the above measures against them based on the secret investigations of the three employees that began in August 2010.

Although Renault did not specify the flow of leaked information, the French media quickly followed up on this matter, speculating that China is most likely to be the beneficiary of this so-called commercial spy case because China is eager to occupy a global leader in electric vehicle technology. status. The French "Le Figaro" stated that the French "General Intelligence Bureau" is "very interested" in the "Chinese cues." As a result, a so-called "Chinese spy case" began to be hyped up by the French media.

The sensational narratives such as “Reynolds’ surprise of the Chinese domestic ghosts” and “China’s economic espionage war against France” continue to appear in various French media. Some French media have made exclusive interviews with some so-called "China problem experts" and "economic intelligence experts" to "enrich" their own reports and support their own views.

The French media also stated in the report that Renault has traced that the State Grid Corporation of China passed accounts in Shanghai and Malta, through a series of transit routes, to the retired Renault executives in overseas accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and the Swiss account There are half a million euros in the middle and 130,000 euros in the Liechtenstein account.

While speculating on the "Chinese spy case", some French media also hyped up the "China-France diplomatic crisis." On January 12, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei criticized the French media’s report as “unfounded” and “irresponsible” at a regular press conference. Some French media immediately predicted that the diplomatic relations between China and France have just warmed up. It is also facing a new crisis.

After Renault filed a lawsuit on this leaked case, the French judicial department launched relevant investigations. With the continuous progress of investigations, the “Chinese spy case” hyped by French media proved to be out of nothing, and the three executives who were suspected by Renault were also found to be defamed. The French judiciary currently suspects that Renault was subjected to "intelligence fraud" because the company's previous internal investigations proved to be groundless.

For example, in the case of suspected employees’ accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, the French government issued a request to these two countries to ask them to assist the French judicial authorities in their investigations. Both Switzerland and Liechtenstein subsequently proved to France that the above account did not exist at all.

A judicial officer responsible for investigating the case told the media on March 13 that the French judiciary suspects that Renault is not a victim of “commercial spy” but a victim of “scammers”. The French judiciary started investigations on "organized fraud" in the Renault case from March 13.

The French judiciary arrested a head of Renault’s corporate security affairs on March 11. The person in charge previously stated that he maintained contact with an anonymous "source of information" that confirmed that the three Renault executives had allegedly divulged corporate secrets. After being arrested, the responsible person stated that he will disclose his "source of information" in the trial in the next few days. French investigators suspect that this Renault security manager or his so-called “source of information” provided Reynolds with “false information.”

After the French judiciary personnel made the above statement, Renault Motors issued a public announcement on March 14th to formally apologize to the three exiled executives. Renault acknowledged that the three employees had "falsely challenged" and promised to "make up" and "restore their reputation" for the harm they caused.

Although Renault acknowledged the mistake, this alleged spy case would have caused incalculable losses to the company. Renault’s image in France and abroad has been seriously damaged. The vice chairman of the French National Assembly asked Renault president to resign or apologize. French Minister of Economy Lagarde asked to “learn lessons from the incident at Renault.”