honestly the best way to think about Chinese firms' relationship with the CCP is like the Matrix; they're independent actors with their own wills and desires who can *also* at any moment be taken over and directed by the CCP and the security services
I think somebody else came up with this analogy but I can't remember who.
Chinese firms want to make money and broaden their business; they also exist in a system in which they have effectively zero power to resist any demand from the party-state, including in their overseas operations.
They have *some* power to resist provincial or local demands, I should clarify: they have zero power to resist demands from the top, especially from the security services, and any claims they make otherwise are an obvious lie.
the mystery is solved it was @BethanyAllenEbr
