In cyber spying row, Chinese media call U.S. a 'mincing rascal' [View all]

[dipsydoodle]

(Reuters) - Chinese state media labelled the United States a "mincing rascal" and "high-level hooligan" on Wednesday in response to Washington charging five Chinese military officers with hacking U.S. companies to steal trade secrets.

The indictment on Monday was the first criminal hacking charge the U.S. has filed against specific foreign officials, and follows a rise in public criticism and private confrontation between the world's two biggest economies over cyber espionage.

As a first response, China suspended a Sino-U.S. working group on cyber issues. In an editorial, the Global Times, an influential tabloid run by the People's Daily, the official newspaper of China's Communist Party, said this was the "right move, but we should take further actions."

"We should encourage organizations and individuals whose rights have been infringed to stand up and sue Washington," the newspaper said. "Regarding the issue of network security, the U.S. is such a mincing rascal that we must stop developing any illusions about it."

The Chinese-language version of the Global Times called the United States a "high-level hooligan".

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/05/21/uk-cybercrime-usa-china-media-idUKKBN0E107K20140521