The US unveiled charges against two alleged Chinese spies for orchestrating a conspiracy to steal prized jet engine technology from private companies, as US President Donald Trump’s administration raises the pressure on Beijing to address its trade grievances.
The US Department of Justice on Tuesday said the Chinese intelligence officers worked with hackers and “co-opted company insiders” to acquire commercial aviation technology in a campaign of computer intrusions that lasted more than five years.
They sought to obtain intellectual property and confidential business data, including information related to a turbofan engine used in commercial airliners, the department said.
The case comes amid growing trade friction between the US and China, and follows on the heels of another case in which a Chinese intelligence official was extradited from Belgium and charged last month with conspiring to steal trade secrets from an Ohio aviation company.
A US Army recruit was also indicted in September for working as an agent of a Chinese intelligence officer.
Intellectual property theft is among the Trump administration’s chief complaints in its trade war with China.
China has long been focused on acquiring advanced jet-engine technology in its efforts to close the gap with Western manufacturers on the production of commercial and military aircraft.
“This action is yet another example of criminal efforts by the MSS to facilitate the theft of private data for China’s commercial gain,” US Attorney Adam Braverman of the Southern District of California, said in a statement, referring to Chinese Ministry of State Security.
“The concerted effort to steal, rather than simply purchase, commercially available products should offend every company that invests talent, energy and shareholder money into the development of products,” he said.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang (陸慷) yesterday dismissed the allegations as “purely groundless and fabricated” at a regular news briefing in Beijing.
The turbofan engine mentioned in the latest case was being developed through a partnership between a French aerospace manufacturer with an office in Suzhou and a company based in the US.
The first alleged hack took place no later than January 2010, when members of the group infiltrated Capstone Turbine Corp, a Los Angeles-based gas turbine company, the department said.
It said the suspects used spear phishing to deploy malware and other means to intrude into the French firm as well into aerospace companies in Massachusetts, Oregon and Arizona that manufactured engine parts.
Among 10 individuals charged were two people the US identified as spies working for the Nanjing-based foreign intelligence arm of the Chinese security ministry.
Additional reporting by AP
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from