U.S. Accuses Chinese Firm, Partner of Stealing Trade Secrets From Micron

By Aruna Viswanatha, Kate O'Keeffe and Dustin Volz

U.S. authorities accused a Chinese state-owned firm, its Taiwanese partner and several individuals of stealing trade secrets from America's largest memory-chip maker, Micron Technology Inc., according to an indictment unsealed Thursday.

The indictment is the latest in a flurry of charges targeting alleged Chinese technology theft as the Trump administration takes an aggressive stance against Beijing.

The criminal defendants named in the indictment are United Microelectronics Corp., a Taiwan semiconductor foundry that is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange; Chinese state-owned Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit; and three Taiwan nationals.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions also criticized China on Thursday, saying it was violating an accord reached with the Obama administration under which both governments agreed not to support cyberattacks to steal corporate secrets from one another.

"In 2015, China committed publicly that it would not target American companies for economic gain," Mr. Sessions said. "Obviously, that commitment has not been kept."

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 01, 2018 13:57 ET (17:57 GMT)

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