According to a Reuters news report, the U.S. authorities on Thursday unveiled indictments against two Chinese nationals linked to China’s government who took part in a cyber spying campaign that hacked a range of American government agencies and corporations and violated a 2015 pact, escalating tensions between the two nations. From the Reuters news article:
“The U.S. Justice Department charged Zhu Hua and Zhang Jianguo in computer hacking attacks on the U.S. Navy, the space agency NASA and businesses in numerous sectors. The defendants hacked computers to steal intellectual property and confidential business and technological data, according to the indictment. U.S. and British authorities on Thursday also condemned China for violating 2015 agreements to curb cyber espionage for business purposes, slamming Chinese efforts to steal other countries’ trade secrets and technologies and to compromise government computers. U.S. authorities said the two defendants, who worked in China in association with the Chinese Ministry of State Security, were charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. “China’s goal, simply put, is to replace the U.S. as the world’s leading superpower and they’re using illegal methods to get there,” FBI Director Chris Wray said at a news conference. “No country poses a broader, more severe long-term threat” to the United States than China, Wray added. The timing of the action may worsen tensions between Washington and Beijing after the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies HWT.UL, in Canada at the request of the United States.”
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