HONG KONG/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - At a closed-door security meeting of U.S. companies in Singapore on Thursday, one topic was high on the agenda: the arrest of a top executive at Chinese tech giant Huawei [HWT.UL] and the potential backlash on American firms operating in China.Officials from major U.S. companies who attended the event, a scheduled meeting of the local chapter of the U.S. Department of State’s Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), voiced concerns about retaliation against American firms and their executives, two people with knowledge of the meeting said.
A number of attendees said their companies were considering restricting non-essential China travel and looking to move meetings outside the country, one of the people added.
Security executives for companies including Walt Disney Co, Alphabet Inc’s Google, Facebook Inc, and PayPal Holdings Inc attended the meeting, according to the sources and a LinkedIn posting by one of the attendees.
The companies all declined to comment or did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Related but of little or no consequence: Russia butthurt over detainment of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou.