Here's my guess. Google initially detected an attack coming from Chinese IP ranges and subsequently checked what other requests the IPs had made.

This is what led to the accounts that were accessed not "through any security breach at Google, but most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on the users' computers".

Although they mention gmail in the statement, the expansion to other industries is made on the Google Enterprise blog (mainly aimed at promoting Google Apps to large companies), so it seems likely the same Chinese IPs accessed users of Google Apps.

So this isn't the Chinese government targeting other industries so much as dissidents that might work there. Google's statement still seems consistent to me, although they have shied away from mentioning Google Apps.