US espionage prosecution of China’s Pangang Group collapses, but caselaw endures
By Melissa Ritti ( July 29, 2026, 16:59 GMT | Comment) -- The US Department of Justice’s decision to abandon its economic espionage prosecution of China’s Pangang Group may ultimately be remembered less for its abrupt ending than for the precedent it produced: narrowing sovereign immunity defenses available to state-owned enterprises accused of stealing US trade secrets.For more than 15 years, Pangang Group stood as the first criminal indictment and prosecution of a Chinese state-owned enterprise (SOE) under the Economic Espionage Act (EEA) of 1996....
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