BEIJING, May 20 -- Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng on Tuesday said that China strongly opposes the U.S. Justice Department's indictment against five Chinese military officers.

The U.S. side announced the indictment against five Chinese military officers on allegations of cyber theft on May 19. China lodged protests with the U.S. side following the announcement, urging the U.S. side to immediately correct its mistake and withdraw the indictment, Geng said.

According to Geng, the position of the Chinese government on cyber security is consistent and clear-cut. China is steadfast in upholding cyber security. The Chinese government, the Chinese military and their relevant personnel have never engaged or participated in cyber theft of trade secrets. The U.S. accusation against Chinese personnel is groundless with ulterior motives.

Geng said the relevant U.S. institutions have long been involved in large-scale and organized cyber theft as well as wiretapping and surveillance activities against foreign political leaders, companies and individuals.

Geng said the U.S. side has adopted double standards on cyber security and the Chinese military is also a victim of cyber theft.

Geng said statistics show that the terminals of Chinese military access to the internet have suffered from great number of foreign cyber attacks in recent years, and a considerable number of such attacks originated from the United States.

China demands that the U.S. side explain its cyber theft, eavesdropping and surveillance activities against China and immediately stop such activities, the spokesman said.

Geng said China-U.S. military relations have been developing well recently, but the U.S. move has seriously damaged mutual trust and breached its commitment to building a healthy, steady and reliable military relationship.

The U.S. side must show its sincerity and take concrete actions to promote the healthy and steady development of the relations between the two countries and their military forces, he said.