Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Justice Department has charged six Chinese nationals, three of whom work at Tianjin University, with economic espionage.
- Reuters reports the three university professors were charged with stealing proprietary information from Avago Technologies Ltd., where two had worked, but the university denies all charges.
- The response in China has focused on the United States’ “paranoia” over economic espionage and has criticized the U.S. government for “politicizing a scientific dispute,” according to Reuters.
Dive Insight:
These allegations of espionage are expected to increase tensions between the Chinese and United States governments. The Justice Department is alleging the accused stole wireless technology and used it to create a business in China that works in partnership with Tianjin University. The charges come amid a concerted effort by the Justice Department to hold people accountable for economic espionage, according to China Spectator, and perpetrators are often tied to China. A 2013 report named that country as being responsible for more than half of all thefts of intellectual property from U.S. companies.