WASHINGTON, D.C.: Two suspected Chinese intelligence officers have been charged with attempting to obstruct a United States criminal investigation of Chinese tech giant Huawei by offering bribes to someone they thought could provide inside information, the US Justice Department announced on Monday (Tuesday in Manila).

The defendants are accused of paying tens of thousands of dollars in digital currency, along with cash and jewelry, to a US official they thought they had recruited as an asset. But the person was actually a double agent working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the department said.