Microsoft(s msft) offices in 4 Chinese cities have been raided by the authorities there for an as-yet-undisclosed reason.
According to Reuters and the South China Morning Post, the company is being investigated by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, which raided Microsoft offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu on Monday.
It is not yet clear whether this is part of the investigations into major IT suppliers, that were promised by the Chinese authorities back in May in the aftermath of the U.S. indicting Chinese army officials over economic espionage-related hacking. That event sparked off a heated row that most recently manifested itself in state media warnings over the security of iPhones(s aapl).
In late May, the Chinese authorities banned government institutions from using Windows 8, the latest flavor of Microsoft’s operating system, on the premise that it may open up computers to spying and remote control, and that it is somehow harmful to the environment.
In a statement on Monday, Microsoft said only this: “We aim to build products that deliver the features, security and reliability customers expect, and we’re happy to answer the government’s questions.”
