US lawmaker calls for sanctions against Chinese enterprise

Last week Chinese nationals were charged for conducting cyber-espionage on private American companies

A US lawmaker has announced to introduce a legislation in the Congress to sanction China's state-owned enterprises and their leading officers, in the wake of last week's Justice Department charges against five Chinese nationals for conducting cyber-espionage on private American companies.

"It is long past time that the Obama administration publicly called out the Chinese Communist Party. This was not a crime committed by five individuals, but an orchestrated campaign by the Communist Party and the Chinese government to conduct economic espionage against American business that has been going on for years," Congressman Dana Rohrabacher said.

In a statement, he alleged that the Chinese Communist Party uses its military wing, the People's Liberation Army, to steal valuable economic information and intellectual property from American companies, and then relays the findings to Chinese state-held enterprises to boost their competitive advantage.

Corrupt leaders of these businesses use the information to enrich themselves and their families. These leaders invariably are Chinese Party members, he alleged.

Recent reports indicate that Chinese state-owned enterprises, including State Nuclear Power Technology Co, the Baosteel Group, and the Aluminum Corp of China were among the state-backed companies that benefited from Chinese hacking.

Observing that the alleged Chinese theft costs the US economy hundreds of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs per year, Rohrabacher said his planned legislation targets these companies and their leadership, all members of the party, for financial sanctions. It also blocks them from entering the United States.

"The United States has for too long allowed the Chinese Communist Party to use every means at its disposal to cheat and conduct economic warfare against our country," he said.

"We know what the Chinese Communist Party is doing and it cannot continue. This legislation will help to stop Chinese companies and their corrupt party leaders from profiting from their cyber theft," he added.