14th May, 2020
Global Times, the megaphone of the Chinese ruling party has lashed out at U.S. President Donald Trump administration, suggesting it has gone cranky.
The stinging rebuke followed new accusation by FBI and CISA that China is attempting to steal COVID-19 vaccine research data.
It came by way of an opinion piece by the journalist Li Qingqing.
On Tuesday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) warned company executives that Beijing was using “cyber actors and non-traditional collectors” to access intellectual property and health data related to coronavirus vaccines and treatments.
The security agencies advised the companies to beef up their cyber security, as well as scanning web applications for unauthorised access, modifications or anomalous activities.
However, The Global Times, furiously dismissed these allegations saying the US lacked “substantial evidence to support the accusation”.
In the editorial, Mr Qingqing claimed that the US President was desperate to deflect blame for his own incompetent handling of the health crisis in the US.
He wrote: “The despicable war of words is a publicity stunt by certain crank politicians.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is still raging across the world, especially in the US.
“If any country dares to hack other countries’ labs and steal research results into vaccines, it would be an act against all humanity.
“Making up such rumours is convenient for the US government, so that US politicians can dodge their own culpability and failures, and instead allegedly hold China accountable for COVID-19 spread in the US.”
He then turned the tables on the US, suggesting that the Trump administration would try to steal coronavirus research data from Chinese companies.
He concluded: “China needs to take precautions.”
The US President has increasingly tried to lay all the blame for the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world squarely on Beijing.
He has accused China’s leaders of deliberately covering up its outbreak, thereby allowing the virus to spread uncontrolled around the world.
The US President has also suggested that the lethal virus escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, implying that it was man-made.–Daily Express