From tech corporations to academic publications, more business entities are becoming hostages to the Chinese Communist Party, an article reveals.

An analysis published in The Epoch Times covers three events showing that the Chinese Communist Party has gained more ground in its ambition to become the next world power.

First up was telecommunication company Ericsson's backing of Chinese tech giant Huawei in Sweden. In their January report, theLocal, a Swedish newspaper reported that Ericsson's Chief Executive Borje Ekholm is "worried about Chinese reprisals after Sweden banned Huawei from taking part in the rollout of 5G networks."

"China accounts for eight percent of our revenue. For us it has been a strategically important issue to be present in China," Ekholm was quoted saying.

The barring of Huawei and ZTE from Sweden's 5G network last October was prompted by security concerns specially on data sharing. Two days after the ban was placed, Chinese ambassador Gui Congyou said in an exclusive interview that the decision will "negatively affect China-Sweden practical cooperation and the operation of Swedish companies in China."

Elisabeth Braw, from the American Enterprise Institute, explained how China took Western firms hostage in an article in Foreign Policy. In it, she called the CCP's ruse to make Ericsson side Huawei as "corporate hostage-taking."

Luke Patey, the senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, also wrote at length on how China uses economic coercion by "(provoking) large multinationals and business associations to lobby their governments for foreign-policy change."

HSBC Needs China for Its Expansion

The Epoch Times' analysis states that 90% of global banking company HSBC's profits was generated from Hong Kong during the first half of 2019. By February 2020, HSBC announced its expansion in Asia and the cessation of their operations in Europe and United States.

While claiming neutrality over the political upheaval in Hong Kong, HSBC froze the account of Ted Hui, a pro-democracy lawmaker. This was met with criticisms from both camps.

Fan Yu, an expert in finance and economics, wrote that HSBC's dilemma in Hong Kong offers a warning to Corporations "that want a big piece of the mainland Chinese market."

"As of last year, Asia-mostly Greater China-now makes up more than 50 percent of its revenues, followed by Europe, and its presence in North and South America has declined drastically," said Fan.

CCP Extending Its Tentacles on Academic Publications

The Chinese government is also extending its reach to the academic sphere. Using "party control," CCP-backed publishers like Springer Nature deletes "articles from its mainland site with topics the Party considers sensitive, including Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, and human rights," states The Epoch Times' review.

Taiwanese doctors would also risk rejection in the publication of their academic papers under Spring Nature's "Eye and Vision" - a medical journal allegedly working in partnership with and sponsored by Wenzhou Medical University in China - if they refuse to abide to the editorial conditions. Radio Free Asia reported about such a case.

"A Taiwanese doctor, Wu Jo-hsuan, recently reported via Facebook that she had been asked by the editorial team at Eye and Vision, a medical journal published by the group, to add the word "China" after "Taiwan" in her paper, or have her article rejected for publication," reports RFA.

In response to criticisms for "bowing to CCP," Springer Nature claims in a statement obtained by the Associated Press that the less than 1% online contents blocked in China was in compliance to their "local distribution laws."