In what may spell trouble for Radisson, the government has put the Chinese government-owned hotel chain on radar. The Radisson hotel chain has over 94 hotels across India. Having banned 59 Chinese apps, the government is now tough on Radisson hotels which are being seen as a possible security risk. The Chinese government-owned Sarovar group, operating over 70 hotels across different Indian cities, has also come under the scanner. Already, a number of Chinese companies are in the radar for their alleged links with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
But the Chinese government-run hotels are causing more concern in the South Block and various security agencies headquarters.
According to sources in the intelligence establishment, all the data of customers of India and foreign countries collected in different systems of these hotels could be misused in China. There should be transparency whether the data is being stored locally or being transferred to China in the custody of the Communist government that owns Radisson and Sarovar hotels, said an intelligence official.
Government agency officials use services at these hotels which causes alarm in security establishments. Similarly, some big corporate houses are also said to be concerned as their top brass meet at these hotels and data are collected through WiFi, payment machines, different e-forms.
According to sources, the government can go tough on Radisson if the management fails to satisfy it over data safety. Countries such as the US, the UK and Australia have alerted their embassies and high commission to this fact. Information including names, addresses, countries of residence, email addresses, company names, phone numbers, frequent flyer numbers, etc, are at the risk of being compromised.
Sources said that the Radisson has been evasive on these issues which have led to a cloud of doubts getting thicker. Radisson hotel chain was founded in the US. But a Chinese company Jin Jiang International bought a majority stake in it in 2018. The same company also got the ownership of the Sarovar hotels. Jin Jiang International is actually Chinese government company. The Shanghai branch of the Chinese Communist Party owns a majority stake in the hotel chains through the Jin Jiang International.
The Indian government planning to go tough on these hotels has come as another jolt to China. The US, the UK and Australia have already put curbs on the operation of Huawei — Chinese telecom vendor — whose founder was allegedly involved with the PLA’s engineering corp.
