Reacting strongly to the indictment by the US Justice Department of five PLA officers on charges of cyber espionage and stealing commercial secrets from major US corporations, China is reported to have ordered State-owned Enterprises (SoEs) to sever ties with US consulting companies like McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group because of apprehensions that they are parting with secret commercial information to the US government. 

Earlier on May 22, China announced a new security screening process for all foreign IT products and services sold in China. The vetting will include products and services used in communications, finance, energy and any other industries the considered as related to national security or “public interest”.

Publicly, Beijing’s response to the indictments has been swift and uncompromising. While a propaganda campaign in China's official media described the US as a "mincing rascal" and a “high-level hooligan”, China's Ambassador to the US, Cui Tiankai adopted a tough stand during an interview with Christiane Amanpour on CNN that was telecast on May 20, 2014.