A 33-year-old Chinese national was arrested in Italy at the request of U.S. authorities, who have charged him with allegedly hacking American COVID-19 research on behalf of the Chinese government, the Department of Justice (DOJ).Xu Zewei’s arrest comes amid ongoing tensions between Washington and Beijing over the origins of COVID-19, which first emerged in China in late 2019 before spreading worldwide, claiming millions of lives and causing widespread economic disruption, Newsweek

“The announcement of charges against Xu is the latest describing the PRC’s use of an extensive network of private companies and contractors in China to hack and steal information in a manner that obscured the PRC government’s involvement,” the DOJ said in a statement on Tuesday.

According to the DOJ, Xu is accused of hacking U.S. universities, as well as immunologists and virologists involved in COVID-19 vaccine, treatment, and testing research.