China's Hacker Army: A look inside the teeming, chaotic world that exists

  ...a leading figure in the third generation of Artificial
  Intelligence scientists...

Hmm, I remember reading a book back in the 80s about how Japan was going to dominate the world using fourth-generation artificial intelligence systems... What are the three generations being referred to here?

Hmm... the article should have taken up two more aspects:

1. Plausible deniability. For example, the President can't be officially informed. PLO/PA had separate terror groups (but financed by money from Arafat, ultimately from EU). And so on. Governments have an interest in doing their criminal activities without getting their hands dirty. So, considering the hard control of Internet cafés in China, would hackers be allowed to exist if they weren't useful?

2. The break in at Google did explicitly target Chinese democracy dissident's email accounts. A little bit too useful.

Arguments that groups-for-hire wasn't doing a government's bidding, while doing what the government want, would sound less unlikely if e.g. those criminals are extradited.

Wake me up if that happens.