The United States imposed sanctions on Chinese hackers on Monday and accused them of working as a front for Beijing’s top spy agency, part of a broad effort to place malware in American electric grids, water systems and other critical infrastructure.
The sanctions were a major escalation of what has become an increasingly heated contest between the Biden administration and Beijing.
While there have been no cases so far in which the Chinese government has turned off essential services, American intelligence agencies have warned in recent months that the malware appeared to be intended for use if the United States were coming to the aid of Taiwan.
By turning off critical services to military bases, and to civilian populations, China would try, according to a series of intelligence findings, to turn Americans inward — worrying about their own supplies of electricity, food and water rather than assisting a distant island that Beijing claims as its own.
Persons:
Biden
Locations:
States, Beijing, United States, Taiwan, China