Tensions increased in May when the U.S. Justice Department charged five members of the Chinese military with hacking the systems of U.S. companies to steal trade secrets.
The SAIC investigation into Microsoft could be read as a public retaliation for the U.S. cyber espionage revelations and the Justice Department indictments, BDA’s Clark said.
The latest move by China’s authorities caps a rocky period for Microsoft in the country. Earlier this month, activists said Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage service was being disrupted in China.
In May, central government offices were banned from installing Windows 8, Microsoft’s latest operating system, on new computers. This ban appears not to have been lifted, as multiple procurement notices since then have not allowed Windows 8.
Nevertheless, the company has pushed forward with plans to release its Xbox One gaming console in China in September, forming distribution ties with wireless carrier China Telecom Corp 0728.HK and e-commerce company JD.com Inc JD.O. (Reuters)[eap_ad_3]
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