Canada joined the U.K., Australia, Japan and Germany in the group announcement. The move is the latest escalation in the conflict between the U.S. and China over alleged hacking by Chinese spies that stole government and corporate secrets. As part of the campaign, U.S. officials are charging two Chinese nationals with stealing U.S. government secrets, and accusing the Chinese government of violating a 2015 pact banning state-sponsored hacking for economic gain. (Washington Post, Wall Street Journal)

Talking point: This will further inflame tensions between Canada and China, as three Canadians remain in detention in China following the Vancouver arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he hasn’t spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping about the arrests, and has no plans to do so in the near future. For now, Trudeau will focus on trying to resolve things through the consular process. High-level political condemnations make everything much more volatile, especially with late word breaking that about 200 Canadians are detained in China. In 2013, security firm Mandiant put out a report accusing the Chinese government of hacking into key western governments and companies. China responded by accusing western governments of doing the exact same thing.