US and British officials on Monday announced sanctions against hackers linked to the Chinese government on multiple criminal charges, saying the hackers had targeted US officials, journalists, companies, pro-democracy activists and a British election watchdog with support from Beijing. . Officials said the campaign, which began in 2010, aimed to harass critics of the Chinese government, steal classified information from US companies and spy on top leaders. Authorities in Western countries exposed a campaign by a hacker group called APT31. The US Justice Department has decided to indict seven hackers possibly based in China. On the other hand, the British government has imposed sanctions on two people in connection with the breach linked to China's access to data held by the Electoral Commission on millions of its voters.