Before you read
Subject: Cyber tensions rise as US says three big Chinese groups benefited from hacking Three big state-owned Chinese groups benefited from trade secrets…
Excerpt: English text from the archived bilingual edition · Chinese edition
Reference text and retained source material
Cyber tensions rise as US says three big Chinese groups benefited from hacking Three big state-owned Chinese groups benefited from trade secrets stolen in a Chinese military hack on US companies, Washington authorities have concluded, heightening tensions between the countries over cyber espionage
People familiar with the 2014 US indictments of five People’s Liberation Army officers named the companies as Chinalco, the biggest aluminium group in China, Baosteel, a large steelmaker, and SNPTC, a nuclear power company
The companies had been unnamed parties in those cases, which accused the Chinese officers of launching cyber attacks, these people said
The Obama administration has threatened to slap sanctions on companies that benefited from such hacks, saying economic cyber espionage was “an act of aggression that has to stop.”
If the US were to include the three companies in cyber sanctions, it would represent a major escalation given their central role in the Chinese economy
Chinalco said it was unaware of US commercial espionage allegations. “Chinalco is a very responsible firm in these matters,” it said. Spokespeople for Baosteel and SNPTC were not immediately available yesterday, the last day of a week-long holiday
The US has several sanctions options, from travel bans on executives to requiring US banks to freeze assets
The fresh claims come as Beijing tries to allay US concerns about economic cyber espionage. Last month, during his first state visit to the US, president Xi Jinping promised China would not engage in commercial cyber spying
President Barack Obama issued an executive order in April allowing for the first sanctions based on cyber attacks that threaten the US economy or national security. The increased willingness to punish such attacks comes amid an alarming rise in hacks, with the FBI attributing a 53 per cent jump in cyber economic espionage cases to China
Officials say many Chinese companies rely on stealing information from US companies to help sell goods more cheaply, produce products more quickly or accelerate innovation
The victims named in the PLA hack were Westinghouse Electric, US subsidiaries of SolarWorld
Language and reading: using this material
Compare wording, tone and information order across complete passages. Positions, prices, policies, exams and statistics retain their original context and should be verified before practical use.
