The US government has charged six Chinese citizens with economic espionage and stealing valuable technology from two American companies for the benefit of the Chinese government.
The US Department of Justice said on Tuesday three Chinese professors and three other Chinese nationals were indicted by a federal grand jury for stealing sensitive mobile-phone technology from Avago Technologies Ltd. and Skyworks Solutions Inc.
“The defendants leveraged their access to and knowledge of sensitive US technologies to illegally obtain and share US trade secrets with the PRC for economic advantage,” Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said in a statement describing the charges.
“Economic espionage imposes great costs on American businesses, weakens the global marketplace and ultimately harms US interests worldwide.”
This is at least the 11th case in which the US government has charged someone with economic espionage since the law was enacted by Congress in 1996, the Justice Department said.
The charges are Washington’s latest efforts in its long-running attempt to pressure Beijing to stop what US officials allege is the widespread theft of sensitive technology to benefit China’s commercial and military industries.