Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca’s China president and global executive vice president pledged that the company would be patriotic in China and “love” the country’s ruling communist party, according to Reuters.
“Build a local, transnational company that loves the Communist Party and loves the country,” Wang said, according to Reuters.
Weng Lei made the comments at a Friday presentation to a crowd of several hundred during an event marking AstraZeneca’s 30 years of business in China, according to Reuters. AstraZeneca, the largest drug producer in China, made 13% of its sales there in 2022 and recently spent $450 million on a China-based inhaler factory.
AstraZeneca’s top selling drugs in the United States include lung cancer drug Tagrisso, cancer immunotherapy Imfinzi and immunosuppressive drug Soliris, which treats a variety of blood diseases, according to the company’s 2023 first quarter report.
AstraZeneca declined to clarify whether senior management had approved the quotes from Lei and wouldn’t say what his comments meant for the company’s plans in the country, according to Reuters. The company received $1.2 billion in American taxpayer money in 2020 to develop its COVID-19 vaccine, which brought in $4 billion in sales in 2021. (RELATED: Pharma Giant Behind Botox, Breast Implants Bankrolled Doctors Pushing Trans Cosmetic Procedures)
Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam (4th L) speaks at a press conference alongside government officials in Hong Kong on December 23, 2020, to announce the third advance purchase agreement with AstraZeneca for 7.5 million shots of COVID-19 coronavirus vaccines. (Photo by ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP) (Photo by ISAAC LAWRENCE/AFP via Getty Images)
AstraZeneca did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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