The indictment on Monday of a group of Chinese military officers for allegedly conspiring to hack into the systems of five US companies and a labour union was a symbolic step and a significant moment in US-China relations.

5月19日，五名中国军官被控密谋侵入五家美国公司和一个工会的电脑系统，这是美国采取的一个象征性举措，可能对美中关系产生重大影响。

The five defendants, whose online monikers included “UglyGorilla” and “KandyGoo”, are unlikely ever to set foot inside a US courtroom. Even if they were found guilty, this would do little to disrupt a vast network of hackers that includes military units and a broader cyber militia.

这五名被告——有两人的网名为“UglyGorilla”（意为丑陋的大猩猩）和“KandyGoo”——不太可能出现在美国的法庭上。即便他们被判罪名成立，也不会对规模庞大的中国黑客网络——包括军事部门和更广泛的网络民间组织——造成什么影响。

Yet the charges send a clear message that Washington will not continue to tolerate China’s massive and wide-ranging efforts to gain access to American trade secrets.

然而这些指控传达出了一个清晰的信息，即华盛顿不会继续容忍中国大规模、多方位获取美国商业机密的行为。

The scale of commercial hacking linked to Chinese entities is immense. The targets range from defence groups to oil majors to soft drinks companies. Such attacks are reckoned to cost the US economy as much as $120bn a year.

与中国实体相关的商业黑客活动规模庞大，攻击目标对准防务组织、石油巨头、软饮料公司等多种行业。据估计，此类攻击每年让美国经济损失1200亿美元。

Since it is inconceivable that Beijing would hand over officers of the Chinese military to the US, emblazoning their faces on FBI wanted posters has little practical effect beyond limiting their ability to travel outside China. Still, the move sends an unmistakable signal. For years, US officials have been raising the issue of cyber attacks in private with their Chinese counterparts. But the hacking has continued more or less unabated. Now, American authorities have taken the issue public. It is an escalation – and surely a calculated one.

中国想必不会将这五名军官交给美国，因此美国联邦调查局(FBI)的通缉令除了对这些人出国旅行起到限制以外，没有什么实际作用。然而，此举传递了一个明确的信号。多年来，美国官员私下里一直与中国官员谈论网络攻击问题。但黑客行为有增无减。现在，美国当局将问题搬到台面上来。这代表美国的反应升级了，无疑美国是故意这么做的。

This week’s legal action is merely the first manoeuvre in what could be a protracted campaign. Prosecutors pointed out that, for the first time, their allegations detailed “specific actions on specific days by specific actors to use their computers to steal information from across our economy”.

美国上周采取的法律行动只是第一步棋，双方的交锋可能会旷日持久。检方指出，指控中首次详细罗列了“具体人物在具体日期用他们的计算机窃取我们广泛经济领域的信息的具体行动”。

Yet just as revealing were the details that the law enforcement agencies left out. The Chinese state companies that have allegedly been profiting from this wave of cyber espionage were not named in the indictment. If similar accusations were one day made against them, their ability to do business in the west could be harmed.

美国执法机关遗漏的一个细节同样耐人寻味。指控中没有提及涉嫌从相关网络黑客活动中获益的中国国有企业名称。如果有一天对它们提起类似指控，这些企业在西方做生意可能就会受到影响。

This week, the government brought charges in a Pennsylvania courtroom. Importantly, however, it retains the option of making similar claims in forums that have far greater importance to Beijing. For example, China has prospered from its membership of the World Trade Organisation. But with access to foreign markets comes an understanding that it is following the accepted rules. Similar litigation at the WTO could not be brushed off so easily.

美国政府上周向宾夕法尼亚一家法庭控告了这五名军官。然而，重要的是，它保留了向对中国重要得多的机构提出类似指控的选择。例如，加入世界贸易组织(WTO)使中国经济蓬勃发展。但与进入外国市场相伴随的是，你得明白要遵守既定规则。如果美国向WTO提起类似指控，中国就没法轻易置之不理。

This week’s prosecution came despite a string of positive encounters between the two states. Chinese military officers recently visited the Pentagon. There has been talk of creating new military hotlines and other forms of co-operation. But just as Beijing has hosted US officials while simultaneously showing off its newest jet fighters, Washington is highlighting that while it values good relations with China it also wants to be respected.

美国政府是在两国军方进行了一系列积极接触的背景下起诉这些军官的。中国军官最近访问了美国五角大楼。双方一直在讨论开通新军事热线以及展开其他合作。然而，就在北京方面接待了美国来访官员、同时展示本国最新款的喷气式战机之际，华盛顿却这样强调：尽管美方重视与中国的良好关系，但它也希望受到尊重。

More broadly, the indictment marks a return to the US strategy on cyber espionage that had been severely disrupted by the revelations of former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. A year ago, the issue of trade-directed cyber espionage was a major part of Washington’s agenda, both in direct talks with China and in its attempts to build a coalition with other advanced countries whose companies were being compromised by Beijing. Then came the Snowden affair, which left the US on its back foot. China will surely bring up the National Security Agency’s hacking in response to Washington. But the indictment shows that the US is not going to remain as passive as it has been for the past year.

从更广泛的意义上说，此次指控标志着美国网络间谍战略的回归——美国国家安全局(NSA)前合同工爱德华•斯诺登(Edward Snowden)的泄密行为极大地影响了这一战略。一年前，无论是在与中国的直接谈判中，还是在努力与其他发达国家——这些国家的企业正受害于中国的行为——建立联盟时，贸易领域的网络间谍问题都是华盛顿议程中的一个主要方面。随后就发生了斯诺登事件，美国的处境变得很不妙。中国在回应华盛顿时肯定会提到NSA的黑客行为。但此次指控表明，美国不会再像过去一年中那样被动。

No one should expect this indictment to bring hacking to an end. Espionage has been going on for as long as people have had secrets, let alone digital ones. For years, mass espionage has been a boon to China’s economy, allowing huge gains at little cost. This week, America took a key step towards changing that dynamic. Finally, such behaviour may begin to carry a price.

此次指控不会终结黑客行为。一直以来，只要人们有秘密（更别提数字领域的秘密了），就会有间谍行为。多年来，大规模的间谍活动为中国经济带来了很大的好处，让它们以极低的成本获得巨大收益。为了改变这种状况，美国在上周迈出了关键一步。终于，做出此类行为的人可能开始需要付出代价。