U.S. indicts Chinese\, Taiwan firms over trade secrets

ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION) The U.S. Justice Department unveiled an indictment against two companies based in China and Taiwan and three individuals on Thursday, saying they conspired to steal trade secrets from U.S. semiconductor company Micron relating to its research and development of memory storage device products.

The charges against Taiwan-based United Microelectronics Corp, China state-owned Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit, Co., Ltd and three individuals, mark the fourth case brought by the Justice Department since September as part of a broader crackdown against alleged Chinese espionage on U.S. companies.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions told a news conference that Chinese espionage has been "increasing rapidly," and added that "cheating must stop." He said the government is launching a new initiative to crack down on Chinese espionage trade cases.