( February 28, 2020, 2:57 PM EST) -- SAN FRANCISCO — A group of related Chinese companies that argue that they are “instrumentalities of a foreign state” and immune from criminal prosecution under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA) on Feb. 26 asked the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to find that a federal district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the U.S. government’s criminal action against them stemming from their alleged scheme to conspire with others to steal trade secrets from E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (United States v. Pangang Group Co. Ltd., et al., No. 19-10306, 9th Cir.)....