China's foreign ministry on Wednesday expressed grave concerns over six Chinese nationals who were indicted by US authorities on charges of economic espionage and theft of trade secrets "for the benefit of the Chinese government."
The case was the latest espionage accusation the US has cast upon Chinese nationals, signaling a growing trend by the US to politicize such indictments by assuming Chinese government involvement, even in seemingly commercial cases.
"The Chinese government expresses strong concern about the relevant matter and is trying to get more details. The Chinese government will ensure that the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens in China-US personnel exchanges will not be hurt," Hong Lei, a foreign ministry spokesman, told a regular press conference.
The US government charged six Chinese nationals, including three professors, with economic espionage, saying they stole secrets from two companies that develop technology that could be used in both civilian and military communication systems.
One of the suspects, Zhang Hao, 36, a professor at the School of Precision Instrument and Opto-electronics Engineering of Tianjin University and former engineer at Massachusetts-based Skyworks Solutions Inc, was arrested on Saturday in Los Angeles upon entry into the US from China.
The other two professors from Tianjin University were identified as Pang Wei, 35, a former employee of Colorado-based Avago Technologies, and Chen Jinping, 41, an assistant dean of the School of Precision Instrument and Opto-electronics Engineering of Tianjin University and a board member for ROFS Microsystems in Tianjin.
Tianjin University on Wednesday told the Global Times that it is still investigating the case.
"Tianjin University authorities learned of the incident last night and are verifying it. The university is planning on making a public response soon," Li Jiayi, deputy head of the publicity department of the University, told the Global Times.
Both Pang and Chen declined to answer questions when reached by the Global Times by telephone on Wednesday.
ROFS employees reached by the Global Times on Wednesday also refused to comment.
Ji Qiufeng, a professor of international relations at Nanjing University, said the US has not verified that the accused were acting on behalf of the Chinese government, and criticized the Justice Department for implying they were by emphasizing in a media release that Tianjin University and ROFS are "controlled" by the Chinese government, language which has been repeated in US media reports.
"The prosecution of Chinese nationals can be labeled as a symbolic act by the US to attract support within US society," Ji told the Global Times.
Zhang's wife, who accompanied Zhang to attend a conference in the US when he was arrested, said that her husband was wronged, the Los Angeles-based The China Press newspaper reported on Monday.
Zhang's lawyer Daniel Deng said the case was clearly a dispute over copyrights with the American companies.
The China Press also called the arrest a "fishing expedition," quoting an anonymous source.
Zhang made a brief court appearance on Monday in Los Angeles and remained in custody. He is scheduled to appear in court in the Northern District of California, at a date to be determined.
Li Haidong, a professor with the Institute of International Relations at China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times that an individual case should not be "highly politicized" and "extensively extrapolated from" by American politicians, which may harm bilateral ties.
Li said such cases remind him of US Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-Communist crusades in the 1950s, during which numerous alleged Soviet Union agents were arrested.
He said he hopes that the tragedy of Wen Ho Lee, a Taiwan-born scientist at Los Alamos nuclear laboratory, will not be repeated.
Lee, who was suspected of spying by the FBI, was investigated in 1999 and later cleared of espionage involving missing nuclear research files.
Both Avago and Skyworks specialize in Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator technology, which is primarily used in mobile devices like phones, tablets and GPS devices, but also has military communication applications.
In May 2014, the US Justice Department accused five Chinese military officers of economic espionage by hacking into the computers of US companies involved in nuclear energy, steel manufacturing and solar energy.
However, China strongly rebuked the US Justice Department indictment, saying that it was based on "fabricated facts" and would jeopardize US-China relations.