A U.S. grand jury has indicted five Chinese military officers on charges of hacking American companies and stealing trade secrets, the toughest action taken by Washington so far to address cyber spying by China.
China denied the charges, saying they were "made up" and would damage trust between the two nations. The Chinese foreign ministry said it would suspend the activities of a Sino-U.S. Internet working group.
Officials in Washington have argued for years that cyber espionage is one of the nation's top national security concerns because foreign hackers have stolen secrets from defence contractors and technology secrets that could pose a threat to U.S. prosperity.
Yet the indictments represent the first time the United States has filed charges against specific officials of foreign governments, accusing them of corporate cyber spying.
Washington announced the charges as new claims emerged last week about the scope of overseas spying by the United States. Cisco Systems responded by asking President Barack Obama to curtail government surveillance programs.
Federal prosecutors said the suspects targeted companies in Pittsburgh, in the nuclear power, metal and solar energy industries.
Targets included Alcoa, Allegheny Technologies, United States Steel, Westinghouse Electric, U.S. subsidiaries of SolarWorld AG and a steel workers' union, Department of Justice officials said.
Officials declined to estimate the size of the losses to the U.S. companies at issue, but said they were "significant."
