With new indictment, U.S. launches aggressive campaign to thwart China's economic attacks

Source: Washington Post

The Justice Department on Thursday unveiled a broad new initiative to combat what it says is mounting criminal economic activity by China, announcing the plan as U.S. officials charged three Taiwanese individuals and Chinese and Taiwanese companies with trade-secret theft.

Thursday’s actions follow a series of moves meant to put Beijing on notice. The Trump administration has prioritized countering threats to U.S. national and economic security as China seeks to supplant the United States as the world’s dominant economic power. The administration already has imposed tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods, and since September federal prosecutors have brought charges in three intellectual property theft cases allegedly involving Chinese spies and hackers.

“Chinese economic espionage against the United States has been increasing — and it has been increasing rapidly,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “Enough is enough. We’re not going to take it anymore.”

Under the initiative, Sessions said, the department will aggressively pursue trade-secret theft cases, and develop a strategy to identify researchers and defense industry employees who’ve been “co-opted” by Chinese agents to transfer technology to China, Sessions said.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/with-new-indictments-us-launches-aggressive-campaign-to-thwart-chinas-economic-attacks/2018/11/01/70dc5572-dd78-11e8-b732-3c72cbf131f2_story.html?utm_term=.55fd26fc9240&wpisrc=al_news__alert-politics--alert-national&wpmk=1