China Fires Back at US Cyber‑Espionage Charges
The Foreign Ministry of China dropped a punchy reply on Friday, December 21, calling the US accusations “slanderous” and demanding that Washington pick up its stray rumors. It also wants the US to drop the charges against two Chinese nationals it says never stole business secrets—classified as a neither participation nor support of any such theft.
US Prosecutors Take Action
On Thursday, U.S. prosecutors indicted Zhu Hua and Zhang Jianguo, alleging they worked for a top‑secret Chinese espionage group known in the cyber‑security world as APT 10. These two were also linked to a Tianjin company called Huaying Haitai Science & Technology Development Co. The indictment claims they stole confidential data from the US Navy, NASA, the Energy Department, and dozens of private firms.
What the Hackers Tapped
- Intellectual property from aerospace giant NASA and Space Lab
- Energy Dept. secrets from the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
- Corporate secrets from airlines, satellites, finance, electronics, healthcare, and oil‑and‑gas players.
International Backlash
Britain, Australia and New Zealand joined the US in blasting China over what they call a global cyber‑commerce theft campaign. They accuse it of a long‑running, covert operation that uses hacking to gain an unfair edge for Chinese businesses.
China’s Foreign Ministry complained that these allies were making “slanderous comments” driven by “ulterior motives.”
FBI, USPTO & Global Concerns
FBI Director Chris Wray warned that no country poses a greater threat to the U.S. economy and cyber infrastructure than China, suggesting the latter is trying to “replace the US as the world’s leading superpower.” He described the campaign as a “strategically significant” threat.
The UK’s security office called the intrusions “one of the most serious, persistent, and potentially damaging sets of cyber attacks” they’ve ever seen. Australia and New Zealand also voiced serious concern.
What’s Happening Behind the Scenes
APT 10 has reportedly stolen personal data, including Social Security numbers, from more than 100,000 U.S. Navy personnel. Navy officials say service members are notified instantly when a breach occurs, but they remain tight‑lipped while investigations continue.
Other hacking targets include service providers that manage e‑mail, cloud storage, and other back‑office computing tasks—essentially, the infrastructure that keeps modern businesses humming.
Why It Matters
These accusations arrive amid tense U.S.–China trade talks, especially after the Canadian arrest of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s CFO, on a U.S. request. Her detention on December 1 coincided with the U.S. and China agreeing to step up discussions on the trade dispute.
In a different note, the U.S. has also charged Chinese intelligence officers over a turbo fan engine used in commercial jetliners and targeted a former U.S. Army Reserve member suspected of recruiting engineers for China.
All in all, the latest files show a pattern of advanced cyber‑espionage, packeting China with a music‑tape of covert pressure over industrial secrets.
