Chinese authorities raid four Microsoft offices for reasons unknown

Officers from the Chinese government's business agency have raided Microsoft offices in four of that country's cities, but as of now there's no word on why this rather extreme action has taken place.

The offices were located in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu. According to reports, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce sent investigators to those locations. A spokesperson for Microsoft in China confirmed the reports and stated that the company will "actively cooperate" with the government but there's no word yet on what the investigators are checking out in those locations.

Microsoft and China have had a rather tense relationship lately. In May the government said it was banning the use of Windows 8 on its own computers for security reasons. However, Microsoft still sees China as a huge market and is planning to launch its Xbox One console in that country sometime in September.

What do you think the Chinese government is up to with this raid of Microsoft's offices?

Source: South China Morning Post via Neowin

John Callaham