US seeks cyber espionage crackdown US lawmakers are preparing legislation which would create new punishments for companies from China and elsewhere that use trade secrets stolen by online hackers. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House intelligence committee, said that the bill would be introduced next month and would likely include visa restrictions for entities using hacked intellectual property. "We need to find ways to make the consequences of this more significant than the gains," said Mr Rogers, a Michigan Republican. The bill was not specifically aimed at China but he said that the country's theft of trade secrets through hacking was "breathtaking in its scope." The proposed legislation is one of the most direct consequences of the growing anxiety in the US about what government officials describe as an increasing Chinese campaign of commercial cyber espionage. The Obama administration and Congress are casting around for new measures which can deter hackers but which will not cause broader damage to the economic and political relationship with China. The issue of cybersecurity has shot to political prominence in recent months after several leading newspapers admitted they had been hacked and after a US research company linked commercial cyber espionage to a specific Chinese military unit based in central Shanghai. Mr Rogers, who is also sponsoring a separate cybersecurity bill aimed at sharing more information about online threats, said that using stolen intellectual property was no different from receiving or using any other stolen goods. We need to find ways to make the consequences of this more significant than the gains. Mike Rogers, House intelligence committee chairman "There are a whole series of things that we can do and put on the table to show that there is a consequence for stealing intellectual property," he said. His planned legislation had the backing of a leading Democrat in the House and a senior Republican senator, he said. James Mulvenon, vice-president of the Defense Group, a Washington consultancy, said that for some Chinese companies or university departments, a visa ban could be a considerable blow. It would mean people could not travel to industry conferences or conduct research collaborations and for universities. It could mean its students might have difficulties studying in the US," he said. Derek Scissors, a China expert at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, said that denying visas to certain individuals would be "a symbolic move that would not solve the problem." One possibility would be the Iran sanctions model, which bars US companies and financial institutions from doing business with certain Iranian entities, as well as freezing any US assets they might have. "It is a feasible model that we could follow," Mr Scissors said. If they are receiving stolen intellectual property, they are legitimate targets. In another indication of the sensitive politics around Chinese technology issues, the new funding law signed this week by President Barack Obama contained an amendment which limits the purchase of China-made information technology by a small group of government departments and agencies. The amendment says that the agencies must consult with law enforcement before purchasing equipment made by companies "owned, directed or subsidised" by China. Although the impact is expected to be modest, the amendment was immediately denounced by the Chinese government. This bill uses Internet security as an excuse to take discriminatory steps against Chinese companies. It is not beneficial to mutual trust between China and the United States nor to the development of trade and economic relations," said Hong Lei, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry.