; Whereas the CCP oversees the economic and technology policies of the People’s Republic of China, directs all legal and regulatory authorities, and exerts direct and indirect influence over all companies in the PRC—state-owned and private; Whereas the CCP has codified into law its authority to interfere in and influence the operations of companies operating within and outside of the PRC and demand access to any data stored in or transiting through its network equipment; Whereas Article 30 of the CCP Constitution requires a CCP cell to be formed in any company where there are three of more CCP members; Whereas Article 15 of Regulations of the CCP on the Work of Grassroots Organizations in State Owned Enterprise requires all important operating and management issues to be discussed by the Party Committee, and only after be decided on by the board of directors or management; Whereas Article 19 of China’s Company Law requires every company to establish a CCP cell and carry out CCP activities and to provide necessary conditions for CCP cell activities; Whereas Article 26 of the Guideline on Improving Business Conditions for Private Enterprises calls on private businesses to support Party construction; Whereas, in addition to inserting itself directly into company operations through CCP cells and ownership stakes, the CCP is erecting a legal and regulatory system that in effect gives it direct influence over a company’s operations and access to all its personal and business information, thereby turning nominally private companies into resources for and tools of the CCP; Whereas the PRC’s National Security Law declares nearly any issue—from the economy to technology and information to ideology—a matter of national security and intelligence work