Two Chinese cyber thieves accused of targeting U.S. firms involved in coronavirus research also hacked the private emails of a Christian house pastor and shared them with communist officials, leading to his arrest.
Department of Justice spokesperson Kerri Kupec told Martha MacCallum on Fox News’ “The Story” Tuesday night that Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi, who worked in tandem with China’s state intelligence bureau to steal hundreds of millions of dollars in sensitive information from companies around the world, also wreaked havoc within their own country.
“For instance, the Chinese government shut down a Christian house church, and within a week, these two individuals were hacking into this Chinese Christian pastor’s email account, gathered those emails, and submitted it to the Chinese government,” Kupec said. “The Chinese government then arrested that pastor.”
“So these two individuals are doing quite the damage,” she added.
On Tuesday, U.S. prosecutors charged the two Chinese nationals for their alleged involvement in the massive global hacking operation that spanned over a decade. Officials described the suspects as a “blended threat” who sometimes worked on behalf of China’s spy services and sometimes to enrich themselves.
According to the 11-count indictment, unsealed on Tuesday, the hackers gave China’s Ministry of State Security the personal data of dissidents, pastors, and human rights activists in the United States, China and Hong Kong.
“For example, they provided the MSS with email accounts and passwords belonging to a Hong Kong community organizer, the pastor of a Christian church in Xi’an, and a dissident and former Tiananmen Square protestor,” the indictment reads. “The Defendants also stole email account contents of obvious interest to the PRC Government, such as … emails belonging to a Chinese Christian ‘house’ … pastor in Chengdu, who was later arrested by the PRC government; and emails from a U.S. professor and organizer, and two Canadian residents, who advocated for freedom and democracy in Hong Kong.”
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SOURCE: Christian Post, Leah MarieAnn Klett
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