Two Chinese citizens have been accused of trying to steal the Covid-19 vaccine investigation and hacking hundreds of companies in the United States and abroad, including defense contractors, the US Department of Justice said on Tuesday. United.
Li Xiaoyu, 34, and Dong Jiazhi, 33, also attacked human rights activists in the United States, China and Hong Kong, deputy attorney general John Demers alleged.
Li and Dong, believed to be in China, acted in some cases “for their own personal gain” and in others for the benefit of China’s Ministry of State Security, Demers said.
“China has now taken its place, along with Russia, Iran and North Korea, in that shameful club of nations that provide a safe haven for cybercriminals,” Demers said.
Hours after the US indictment, the Chinese ambassador to the United Kingdom, Liu Xiaoming, rejected claims by the West that China was stealing investigative data as “unfounded.” He tweeted: “Such accusations constitute a lack of respect for Chinese scientists and their achievements; They could also undermine international R&D cooperation. The world must firmly oppose and reject such unsubstantiated claims. “
The move comes amid mounting tensions between global superpowers fueled by the coronavirus pandemic, which President Donald Trump blames China.
The Justice Department said that Li and Dong, who were classmates at an electrical engineering school in Chengdu, have been involved in a hacking campaign for the past 10 years.
They have targeted companies in the United States, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Japan, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Spain, South Korea, Sweden and Britain, he said.
“Specific industries included, among others, high-tech manufacturing; medical device, civil and industrial engineering; commercial, educational and game software; solar energy; pharmaceutical products; defense, “he said.
“More recently, defendants investigated vulnerabilities in the computer networks of companies that develop Covid-19 vaccines, testing technology and treatments.”
Justice Department officials said Li and Dong targeted biotech companies in California, Maryland, Massachusetts and elsewhere, but did not appear to have compromised any Covid-19 investigations.
They also addressed “non-governmental organizations and individual dissidents, clerics and democratic and human rights activists in the United States and abroad, including Hong Kong and China,” the department said.
According to the indictment, Li and Dong provided passwords for personal email accounts belonging to Chinese dissidents, a Hong Kong community organizer, the pastor of a Christian church in Xian, and a former Tiananmen Square protester to the State Security Ministry.
Among the allegedly stolen material were emails between a dissident and the Dalai Lama’s office.
The couple was accused of stealing the source code of software companies, information on developing drugs from pharmaceutical firms and weapon designs, and data testing of defense contractors.
The selected foreign companies were not identified by name. But according to the indictment, they included a Dutch electronics company, a Swedish gaming company, a Lithuanian gaming company, a German software engineering company, a Belgian engineering software company, an Australian defense contractor, a construction company Korean naval firm, a Spanish electronics and defense firm and a British cancer research and artificial intelligence company.
Li and Dong allegedly stole information from defense contractors on military satellite programs, military wireless networks and communications systems, and microwave and laser systems.
The indictment was returned by a grand jury in the Eastern District of Washington state on July 7, but was revealed Tuesday.
Li and Dong were charged with conspiracy to commit computer fraud, conspiracy to commit trade secret theft, wire fraud, unauthorized access to a computer, and identity theft.
China accused the United States last month of discrediting Beijing after accusations that Chinese hackers were attempting to steal the coronavirus investigation.
The claims exacerbated tensions between the two countries, which have exchanged comments on the origin of the pandemic that has killed more than 600,000 people since it erupted in China late last year.
“China expresses strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to such stains,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian. “Judging from past records, the United States has carried out the world’s largest cyber-theft operations.”
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
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