Chinese state media – the Global Times states that some Indian media recently claimed that the Chinese company Zhenhua Data is “monitoring over 10,000 Indian individuals and entities including Indian politicians” with “links to the Chinese government.”

Responding to assertions, the PRC embassy in New Delhi stated on its website on Thursday that Zhenhua Data, a privately owned organization has no connection with the Chinese government.

“Relevant report makes groundless accusations on the ‘presumption of guilt,’purely trying to find excuses aiming to blame others,” the statement quoted the embassy’s spokesperson Ji Rong as saying.

“Some forces with ulterior motives hype up the so-called ‘China watching and manipulating data,’ which is a part of a planned and premeditated strategy to suppress, contain and smear China,” Ji added.

In the statement, the embassy reiterated that Beijing has always been a strong supporter of cybersecurity. “We call on all parties to work with China to make tangible efforts to truly safeguard global data security and build a peaceful, secure, open and cooperative cyberspace,” it said.

Earlier, an investigation by The Indian Express disclosed that Zhenhua Data is tracking over 10,000 Indian individuals and corporations in its global database of “foreign targets.”

The range of targets in India identified and monitored in real-time by Zhenhua Data Information Technology Co. Limited is worrying as per the data shared by a source with media firms including The Australian Financial Review, Italy’s Il Foglio, and The Daily Telegraph, London.

Zhenhua Data rejected claims of amassing private information such as psychological profiles. “There is nothing about the operations that are illegal or unreasonable,” the company representative surnamed Sun told the Global Times on Monday, saying that the company collects information from public sources that are accessible to everyone, which is no different from its Western peers.