China has reacted sharply on US and UK accusations on Chinese government hackers on a large scale on cyber theft. “We want them to immediately stop smothering us.”

“The Chinese government has never participated or supported the stealing of trade secrets,” said the spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to her, Beijing has filed ‘formal protest’ against the accusations of the US.

On Thursday, two computer hackers, who would have links with the Chinese intelligence services, were indicted in the US. The two would have targeted networks in the US and in other Western countries to steal confidential commercial and technical information.

According to the American authorities, it is Zhu Hua and Zhang Shilong, who are part of the hacker group ‘Advanced Persistent Threat 10’ and currently reside in China. According to the deed of accusation, the two worked for Huaying Haitai, in collaboration with the Chinese State Security Ministry.

The hackers were targeting companies in aviation, aerospace and satellite technology, as well as US government agencies such as the Navy and NASA. Other countries that were targeted included Great Britain, Australia, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Sweden.