China rejects report it tried to obtain Federal Reserve data

BEIJING (AP) — China’s government has rejected as a “political lie” a report by The Wall Street Journal that Beijing tried to recruit informants in the Federal Reserve system to obtain U.S. economic data. The report, citing an investigation by a Senate panel, adds to accusations of Chinese computer hacking and other efforts to steal U.S. commercial and government information. The Journal said a Fed employee who visited Shanghai in 2019 during a bout of U.S.-Chinese trade tensions was threatened with prison to pressure the employee to disclose data including about tariffs. A foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, said the report has “no factual basis.”