US cyberspying case against Chinese military officials is all talk, no action

Two weeks after the Obama administration announced a groundbreaking criminal case, accusing five Chinese military officers of hacking into US companies to steal trade secrets, the accused have yet to be placed on Interpol's public listing of international fugitives.

What's more, there is no evidence that China would entertain a formal US request to extradite them.

Short of the five men flying to the US for a vacation, for example, there's no practical way they could be arrested outside China without help from foreign governments. It's also unclear whether the charges levied by the US are accepted internationally as crimes. No country so far has publicly expressed support for the groundbreaking charges.

The Obama administration described the unusual indictment on May 19 as a wake-up call for China to stop stealing US trade secrets. The FBI published "wanted" posters with pictures of all five Chinese military officers. Attorney General Eric Holder said such hacking suspects "will be exposed for their criminal conduct and sought for apprehension and prosecution in an American court of law".

Now, weeks later, that's looking less likely than ever, illustrating the complex legal and diplomatic issues posed by the indictment. There may be no viable options for Holder to make good on his word.