> No, in the very literal sense that Bytedance has a board of directors, and on that board is a CCP member who has the real final say on everything the company does. When you are a business in China, you defacto work for the government.
Would you say the same thing if they employed CIA and NSA people in executive positions, and had ex-generals and ex-spooks on the board?
No. A CIA agent might have ulterior motives being on a board, but they are just another board member (I also doubt many board members are secretly CIA).
Every company in China however answers directly to the part, and every board has a party member on it, who holds 100% of the voting power.
Would you say the same thing if they employed CIA and NSA people in executive positions, and had ex-generals and ex-spooks on the board?