China calls US arrogant, selfish after hacking indictment

BEIJING (AP) — China called the U.S. arrogant and selfish on Friday after two Chinese citizens were charged with stealing American trade secrets and other sensitive information on behalf of Beijing’s main intelligence agency.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said “the Chinese government has never participated in or supported anyone in stealing trade secrets in any way.”

She accused the U.S. of undermining the development of other countries in order to defend its own hegemony.

“The U.S. is a world superpower, and it’s quite arrogant and selfish,” she said during a regular press briefing.

The U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday the indictment of Chinese nationals Zhu Hua and Zhang Shilong for allegedly carrying out an extensive cyberespionage campaign against government agencies and major corporations.

Besides the alleged U.S. infiltration, Zhu and Hua are also accused of breaching computers linked to companies in at least 11 other countries, including Japan, the United Kingdom and India.

More than 90 percent of Justice Department economic espionage cases over the past seven years involve China, said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and more than two-thirds of trade secrets cases are connected to the country.

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