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 . Holder said some of the `` victims '' included U.S. Steel Corp. , Westinghouse , Alcoa , Allegheny Technologies , the United Steel Workers Union and SolarWorld . In an unusual move , the men were named in the indictment document as Wang Dong , Sun Kailiang , Wen Xinyu , Huang Zhenyu and Gu Chunhui . These are the first charges against Chinese state officials for what the U.S. says is a widespread problem , U.S. officials told CNN before Holder 's remarks . But in a written statement Tuesday , China 's Foreign Ministry 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 . `` From WikiLeaks to the ( Edward ) Snowden incident , the U.S. hypocrisy and double standards have been abundantly clear . The Chinese PLA has been a serious victim of this kind of behavior from the U.S. Statistics show that in recent years the PLA 's international internet terminals have suffered a large number of attacks . IP addresses show that a large number of those attacks come from the U.S. `` China demands that the U.S. give a clear explanation of its internet theft of secrets and eavesdropping on China and immediately cease such activities . '' On Monday , Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson , Qin Gang , said the charges against its army officers were based on `` intentionally-fabricated facts '' that `` grossly violate the basic norms governing international relations , '' and urged Washington to `` immediately correct its mistakes and withdraw the indictments . '' Qin also revealed China would be suspending its involvement in the joint China-U.S. Cyber Working Group , set up in April last year to work on measures to address cybersecurity -- an issue that has driven a wedge between the two governments in the past . What we know about the Chinese army 's alleged cyber spying unit . President 's concern . At a regular news briefing at the White House , press secretary Jay Carney was asked about Monday 's developments . `` This is an issue that has been brought up by President Obama with ( Chinese ) President Xi ( Jinping ) in their meetings as recently as in March as a general problem that we have seen and reflects the president 's overall concern about cybersecurity , '' Carney said . `` We have consistently and candidly raised these concerns with the Chinese government , and today 's announcement reflects our growing concern that this Chinese behavior has continued . '' He was adamant that the U.S. `` 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 . `` In other words , we do not do what those Chinese nationals were indicted for earlier today . Period . '' A spokeswoman for the State Department told reporters that Washington wants to have more dialogue with Beijing about the issue . `` We remain deeply concerned about Chinese government-sponsored , cyber-enabled theft of trade secrets and other sensitive business information for commercial gain , '' Jen Psaki said . `` And , again , this was specific to the actions of ... of just a few individuals . And we hope that the Chinese government can understand that . '' Impacts real people . This was a law enforcement case , she added , not a diplomatic one . `` We continue to believe -- and this is relevant to us , our role here at the State Department -- that we can have a constructive and productive relationship with China , '' she said . `` We 're ready to work with China to prevent these types of activities from continuing . '' Joining Holder , David Hickton , U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania , said the alleged hacking has caused the victimized U.S. companies to lose capital investments in research and technology . He added that the `` important message '' is that cyberespionage `` impacts real people in real and painful ways , '' he said . `` The lifeblood of any organization is the people who work , strive and sweat for it . When these cyberintrusions occur , production slows , plants close , workers get laid off and lose their homes , '' Hickton said . `` Hacking , spying and cybertheft for commercial advantage can and will be prosecuted criminally even when the defendants are state actors , '' he said .
Westinghouse spokesman calls on China to withdraw charges . Indictment alleges five Westinghouse officers hacked computers . United Steel Workers Union , China Foreign Ministry , Alcoa among victims , Eric Holder says . U.S. suspends participation in the joint China -U.S. Cyber Working Group .