China today said it is "strongly concerned" over the arrest of six Chinese nationals charged with economic espionage and theft of trade secrets in the US.
"The Chinese side is strongly concerned over the matter and we are checking further details about it," Hong Lei, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said at a news briefing.
Six Chinese nationals, including a professor, were yesterday charged with economic espionage and theft of US trade secrets for the benefit of universities and companies controlled by China, according to federal law enforcement agencies.
Hong said China would make sure the legitimate rights of the Chinese citizens are guaranteed.
Among those charged were Tianjin University Professor Hao Zhang who was arrested on May 16 upon entry into the US from China in connection with a recent superseding indictment in the Northern District of California.
The 32-count indictment charges Zhang and five other Chinese with economic espionage and theft of trade secrets for their roles in a long-running effort to obtain US trade secrets for the benefit of universities and companies controlled by the Chinese government.
"According to the charges in the indictment, the defendants leveraged their access to and knowledge of sensitive US technologies to illegally obtain and share US trade secrets with China for economic advantage," Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said yesterday.
