China has accused the United States of "hypocrisy" and "double standards" following its decision to charge five Chinese army officers with cybertheft against major American businesses. The Foreign Ministry in Beijing even took the step of summoning U.S. Ambassador Max Baucus late Monday, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported, as tensions between the two countries threatened to escalate into a full-scale diplomatic incident. Earlier Monday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the men, all members of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), "maintained unauthorized access to victim computers to steal information from these entities that would be useful" to the victims' competitors in China.
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China Foreign Ministry spokesman calls on U.S. to withdraw charges
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Indictment alleges five People's Liberation Army officers hacked computers
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United Steel Workers Union, Westinghouse, Alcoa among victims, Eric Holder says
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China suspends participation in the joint China-U.S. Cyber Working Group
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These are the first charges against Chinese state officials for what the @placeholder says is a widespread problem, U.S. officials told CNN before Holder's remarks.
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These are the first charges against Chinese state officials for what the U.S. says is a widespread problem, @placeholder officials told CNN before Holder's remarks.
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But in a written statement Tuesday, China's @placeholder said "it is widely known that the U.S. has for a long time been using its advanced technology and infrastructure to perpetrate large scale theft of secrets and eavesdropping against foreign political leaders, enterprises and individuals.
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But in a written statement Tuesday, China's Foreign Ministry said "it is widely known that the @placeholder has for a long time been using its advanced technology and infrastructure to perpetrate large scale theft of secrets and eavesdropping against foreign political leaders, enterprises and individuals.
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The Chinese PLA has been a serious victim of this kind of behavior from the U.S. Statistics show that in recent years the @placeholder's international internet terminals have suffered a large number of attacks.
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He was adamant that the @placeholder "intelligence programs serve a specific national security mission, and that does not include providing a competitive advantage to U.S. companies or U.S. economic interests," Carney said.