I noticed that the headline is slightly different when the US accuses China. It'd be more like: "FBI says China hacked Microsoft". It's subtle. But the headline in this article sounds like like China is falsely accusing the US but the other example creates more credibility.
I apologize to those who only want to discuss about the content but I'm trained in media literacy and I can't unsee these things.
If I remember correctly, in the Economist style guide, they recommend using the country's capital as the actor when a government does something (e.g. Washington has announced sanctions against X, Beijing accuses Washington of hacking). In fact, that article does just that in the third paragraph. What valid reason could there be to change the title to "China vs US", is that entirely malicious?
Here are some real headlines from Bloomberg. I'm not changing my original stance. Bloomberg tries to make US hacking China sound like revenge accusations. Meanwhile, Bloomberg will usually put a source or direct entity behind China hacking US, making it sound more credible. It's subtle but effective.
China hacking US:
* US Navy Hit by Chinese Hacking Campaign, Report Says
* Microsoft Says China-Based Hackers Breached Emails
* The Long Hack: How China Exploited a U.S. Tech Supplier
* US officials say chip hack a sign of Chinese cyber threat
* U.S., U.K., Allies Tie Chinese Government to Microsoft Hack
* Pentagon Accuses China of Cyberspying on U.S
* US Congressman Bacon Says His Emails Were Hacked in Campaign Linked to China
* China Is Trying to ‘Ransack’ Western Companies, FBI Head Warns
US hacking China:
* China Accuses US of Hacking Huawei Servers as Far Back as 2009
* China Says US Hacked Aeronautics, Space Research University
* Chinese Firm That Accused NSA of Hacking Has Global Ambitions
You would have to compare against
on how America is reported in the Chinese press. Most actors in the USA are reduced to the USA if you take a look at the English versions of the globaltimes or China daily, at least. It doesn’t seem weird that one country abstracts all actors in the other, actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is true between any counties that don’t really understand each others internal organizations and factions.
Incidentally, given how visible USA’s Democrat/Republican rivalry is, the average person in China isn’t really aware of it. Likewise, I have no idea Xi’s chief political opposition is within China.
I apologize to those who only want to discuss about the content but I'm trained in media literacy and I can't unsee these things.