US to Charge Chinese Military with Espionage

The irony's thick. Sourced from AB, AFP, AP, CNN.

Get It Try It

ORTHANC (Rixstep) — The US will soon charge the Chinese military with industrial espionage, according to US attorney-general Eric Holder and as reported by AFP.

According to Holder, five alleged Chinese military spies have hacked into computers to gain access to business secrets and other sensitive information about US industries. The victims include corporations in nuclear energy, metallurgy, and solar power.

Historical

The victims are allegedly Alcoa Aluminium, Westinghouse, Allegheny Technologies, US Steel, United Steelworkers Union, and SolarWorld.

According to Eric Holder, the Chinese military obtained 'unauthorised access to the networks of the victims in order to steal useful information' for competitive Chinese corporations. In some cases they've stolen industrial secrets 'of special interest for Chinese corporations at the time of the theft', according to CNN.

AP state that the prosecution will be the first ever directed at government players working on the Internet.

Dismissed

CNN report that Holder wants the trial to take place in the US.

'It's our hope that the Chinese government will show respect for our judicial system', Holder told AP.

The Chinese foreign department responded on their website by calling the allegations 'extremely absurd'. Foreign department spokesman Qin Gang says that the US 'fabricated' the evidence, that China defends cyber-security, and that the allegations 'do violence to fundamental norms for international relations and thwart cooperation and mutual trust between China and the US', according to CNN.



According to CNN, representatives for the US authorities claim that Chinese industrial espionage is widespread. AP reported that the US for a long time accused the Chinese army and Chinese hackers of attacking US industries and military targets, often for the purpose of stealing secret information.

Worsened Relations

China authorities claim that they're threatened by hackers from the US and that their military is a primary objective of US security services, according to AP.

AP report that the charges will further strain relations with China, the US reacting strongly in the past few months to what they describe as 'provocative Chinese territorial actions' in southeast Asia.