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On May 19, 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that a grand jury had indicted five Chinese military personnel over alleged hacking, economic espionage and theft of trade secrets from six U.S. companies and organizations. China rejected the accusations as “fabricated” and “ungrounded.” The indictment was a set of charges—not a court finding that the defendants were guilty.
What the United States alleged
The Justice Department said the indictment charged five named Chinese military personnel with offenses including computer hacking, economic espionage, trade-secret theft and related crimes. It described the case as the first criminal charges against known state actors for this type of hacking. The release listed 31 counts and potential statutory penalties; those maximums were possible penalties, not sentences imposed.
The DOJ named the defendants as Wang Dong, Sun Kailiang, Wen Xinyu, Huang Zhenyu and Gu Chunhui. The indictment alleged that they were officers in Unit 61398 of the Third Department of China’s People’s Liberation Army. DOJ alleged that Wang, Sun and Wen hacked or tried to hack U.S. entities, while Huang and Gu supported the alleged conspiracy by managing infrastructure such as domain accounts. The alleged activity period was 2006–2014.
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Who the indictment identified as alleged victims
The DOJ named six companies and organizations as alleged victims. Its account described targets and information ranging from engineering specifications and business records to employee credentials and internal communications.
| Alleged victim | What DOJ said the indictment alleged |
|---|---|
| Westinghouse Electric Co. | Sun allegedly stole technical and design specifications for parts of AP1000 power plant buildings, as well as sensitive, non-public emails from decision-makers. DOJ said the alleged theft occurred while Westinghouse was building plants in China and negotiating technology transfers with a Chinese state-owned enterprise. |
| U.S. subsidiaries of SolarWorld AG | The indictment allegedly described theft of thousands of files, including cash-flow, manufacturing, production and cost information, as well as privileged attorney-client material relating to trade litigation. |
| Allegheny Technologies Inc. | Wen allegedly accessed the network and stole credentials for virtually every employee. |
| United States Steel Corp. | DOJ said the indictment alleged spear-phishing against employees around trade litigation. |
| United Steelworkers | The indictment allegedly described theft of internal emails concerning trade strategies. |
| Alcoa Inc. | DOJ said emails were allegedly stolen after Alcoa announced a partnership with a Chinese state-owned enterprise. |
These examples explain why prosecutors characterized the alleged activity as economic espionage: the targets included technical designs and commercially sensitive information, as well as communications and credentials that could enable access to business networks.
Why China called the accusations fabricated
China rejected the U.S. allegations. In a May 19, 2014 report, SecurityWeek quoted Foreign Ministry spokesperson Qin Gang describing them as “ungrounded.” The report also quoted the Chinese statement: “This US move, which is based on fabricated facts, grossly violates the basic norms governing international relations and jeopardizes China-US cooperation and mutual trust.”
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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11According to SecurityWeek’s account, China asked the United States to withdraw the indictment and denied that the Chinese government, military or relevant personnel had participated in cyber theft of trade secrets. These are China’s stated position and denial, not a legal determination about the allegations. SecurityWeek’s contemporaneous report reproduced the response; it is not the original ministry statement.
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What the announcement does—and does not—establish
The DOJ announcement establishes that prosecutors announced an indictment, named five defendants and set out allegations involving six U.S. companies and organizations. It does not establish guilt. Nor do the cited accounts establish whether the defendants were later tried, arrested, convicted or otherwise had their cases resolved.
The Justice Department’s statements also expressed the U.S. government’s rationale for bringing the case. Attorney General Eric Holder said, “Success in the global market place should be based solely on a company’s ability to innovate and compete, not on a sponsor government’s ability to spy and steal business secrets.” FBI Director James B. Comey called the indictment “an important step” and said, “there are many more victims, and there is much more to be done.” Those comments are official positions, not independent findings about the case’s later impact.
SecurityWeek reported at the time that the longer-term effect on U.S.–China relations and efforts to stop the alleged activity remained uncertain. The available accounts do not establish what long-term effect the announcement had.
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