U.S. Charges China Intelligence Officers Over Hacking Companies and Agencies

U.S. officials also accused China of violating a 2015 pact under which both nations vowed to not engage in state-sponsored hacking for economic gain.

The Trump administration exerted further pressure Thursday on Beijing, unsealing criminal charges against two Chinese citizens allegedly tied to a state-sponsored campaign to steal sensitive information from businesses and several U.S. government agencies, including the Navy.

The charges come amid a broader push by the U.S. to deter cyberattacks and technology theft and reset trade relations with the world’s second largest economy on more favorable terms, through tariffs, sanctions, indictments and investment restrictions.

The indictments, senior Justice Department and other administration officials said, provide additional evidence that China violated a 2015 pact with the Obama administration under which both countries vowed to not engage in state-sponsored hacking for economic gain.

“No country should be able to flout the rule of law—so we’re going to keep calling out this behavior for what it is: illegal, unethical and unfair,” Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray said at a news conference announcing the charges, which were unsealed in federal court in Manhattan. “No country poses a broader, more severe long-term threat.”

U.S. officials say China’s alleged cyberattacks have metastasized into a pre-eminent national and economic security threat. In Thursday’s indictments, prosecutors drew direct links between the alleged hackers and China’s Ministry of State Security. The indictments also allege that Chinese authorities approved of and directed the campaign.

“It is unacceptable that we continue to uncover cyber crime committed by China against other nations,” Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said at the news conference.

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