Chinese authorities raided the offices of Bain and Company in Shanghai, marking the second such crackdown against an American company with operations in the communist nation.

Police questioned employees of the management consulting firm two weeks ago and confiscated a number of computers and phones, according to a Wednesday report from the Financial Times based upon the accounts of six people familiar with the situation. “We can confirm that the Chinese authorities have questioned staff in our Shanghai office. We are co-operating as appropriate with the Chinese authorities,” Bain and Company said in a statement to the outlet. “At this time, we have no further comment.”

The raid of Bain and Company offices in Shanghai came weeks after officers detained five staff members from the Beijing offices of American corporate due diligence firm Mintz Group. The company said in a statement made to Reuters that authorities shuttered operations for the business in China, additionally clarifying that the five detailed employees were all Chinese nationals. “Mintz Group has not received any official legal notice regarding a case against the company and has requested that the authorities release its employees,” the company added.

Beyond the two incidents, however, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and other senior officials have broadly welcomed foreign investments as the nation’s economy recovers from some of the most aggressive government lockdown mandates in the world. Cities such as Shanghai were closed such that many residents were unable to leave their homes for months, policies which further disrupted the worldwide supply chain and prompted some American firms to shift their manufacturing operations toward developing countries such as Vietnam and India.

The gross domestic product of China has expanded at an average of 9% since the country opened and reformed its economy more than four decades ago, according to data from the World Bank, enabling more than 800 million residents to escape poverty. The nation’s economy grew 4.5% year-over-year between the first quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023, according to data released by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics earlier this month.

The raids also occur as tensions between the United States and China heighten over several recent espionage efforts from the rising communist power, including a spy balloon that traversed the continental United States and reports of social media platform TikTok collecting data on American citizens. Other technology firms based in China have provoked concerns among lawmakers and prompted the Biden administration to increase trade restrictions.

The White House investigated Chinese telecommunications company Huawei last year over concerns that American cell towers using the company’s devices were transmitting data on military bases and missile silos to Chinese government actors. Worries over espionage have prompted state lawmakers to restrict the capacity of Chinese entities to hold land near military installations: the North Carolina House of Representatives unanimously approved a bill this week to ban the Chinese purchase of land within 25 miles of a military facility.

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Chinese entities own slightly less than 1% of acres held by foreigners in the United States, according to a report from the Department of Agriculture. Canadian entities meanwhile own 32% of agricultural and non-agricultural land held by foreigners while citizens of other allies, such as the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, represent 31% of land held by foreigners.

A Connecticut state trooper who charged that the State Police Union (CSPU) and Department of Emergency Services (DESPP) demoted him from a prestigious position for refusing to join the union membership and contribute to its politics won a $260,500 settlement.

State Trooper Joseph Mercer, whose case was represented by staff attorneys at the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, was appointed Operations Sergeant of the Emergency Services Unit in May 2015. The next month, CSPU President Andrew Matthews filed two grievances targeting Mercer, one stating no “selection process” had been implemented to fill the position and another alleging Mercer had mismanaged an incident involving an armed suspect. In October 2015, Matthews reportedly met with Dora Schriro, then the Commissioner of the DESPP; Schriro subsequently transferred Mercer to an administrative post.

Mercer filed suit in 2016. In May 2022, a district court ordered DESPP Commissioner James Rovella, Schriro’s replacement, to turn over additional discovery.

“We at the Foundation are proud to have defended Sergeant Mercer’s rights and secured him a settlement that vindicates his free association,” National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix stated. “However, it’s disgraceful that CSPU union officials targeted Mercer, a dedicated public safety officer, with such a vicious retribution scheme in the first place. Public servants should not have to endure multi-year lawsuits just so they can refrain from supporting union politics they oppose.”

“Situations like these demonstrate why the Foundation-won Janus v. AFSCME decision, which the U.S. Supreme Court decided while Mercer’s case was ongoing, is so important,” Mix added. “As was obvious in Mercer’s case, unelected public sector union bosses often wield their enormous clout over government to serve the union’s private interests over the public interest. That’s why it’s vital that public employees can exercise their First Amendment Janus right to cut off all financial support of union bosses who are contorting government in this way.”

In late June 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. AFSCME that non-union government workers could not be forced to pay union fees in order to work in public service jobs. Millions of teachers, first responders and other government workers were affected.

Plaintiff Mark Janus reacted, “I’m thrilled that the Supreme Court has restored not only my First Amendment rights, but the rights of millions of other government workers across the country. So many of us have been forced to pay for political speech and policy positions with which we disagree, just so we can keep our jobs. This is a victory for all of us. The right to say ‘no’ to a union is just as important as the right to say ‘yes.’ Finally our rights have been restored.”