What is the real intention behind U.S. hacking charges?

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‍“The U.S. accusation is designed to become sensational. It is designed to politicize the situation and it is also designed to fuel the frictions and animosity between China and the U.S.,” said Victor Gao, vice-president of the Center for China.

His comments came after the U.S. Justice Department accused two Chinese nationals of hacking intellectual property and confidential business information. The spat comes at a time when the Trump administration has taken a hard stance on China on trade and technology.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying dismissed the indictment of what U.S. officials called a state-sponsored conspiracy as "self-deceiving." She also said the incident is seriously harmful to cooperation between the two countries.

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Gao echoed the statement saying, “This is not creating any incentive for cooperation between the Chinese government and the U.S. government.”

He pointed out that the U.S. should really reflect on what it has been doing in terms of cybersecurity violations before it points an accusing finger at another country.

“For me, we are seeing the conflicts of two separate things going on,” said Brandon Blackburn-Dwyer, founder of Grasshopper Strategies. “We are seeing a long-standing investigation into the hacking ... the timing of it, the unsealing of the indictment, that may be somewhat of a political move. The reality is that this has been on the FBI's radar and part of their priorities for more than a decade.”

Einar Tangen, a current affairs commentator, saw the move as “pure sensationalism” in which the U.S. is "making very wild accusations and not providing any kind of proof."

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