Beijing accuses the United States of smearing China after Washington alleged Chinese hackers were attempting to steal research on developing a vaccine against the coronavirus.
The claims have added fuel to tensions between the global superpowers, who have traded barbs over the origin of the pandemic that has killed nearly 300,000 people.
US authorities said Wednesday that Chinese hackers were trying to obtain coronavirus data on treatments and vaccines, warning the effort involved Chinese government-affiliated groups and others.
“China expresses strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to such smearing,” foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian tells a press briefing. “Judging from past records, the US has carried out the largest cybertheft operations worldwide.”
In this file photo taken Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian during a daily briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs office in Beijing (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
He says Beijing has significant achievements of its own in the fight against the pandemic.
— AFP
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