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U.S. to Warn That China Is Attempting to Steal Coronavirus Vaccine Research

The U.S. will issue a warning that China is planning to steal research on possible coronavirus vaccines via cyber attacks, the New York Times reported on Sunday. China is actively seeking “valuable intellectual property and public health data through illicit means related to vaccines, treatments and testing,” a draft of the warning by the FBI and …

The U.S. will issue a warning that China is planning to steal research on possible coronavirus vaccines via cyber attacks, the New York Times reported on Sunday.

China is actively seeking “valuable intellectual property and public health data through illicit means related to vaccines, treatments and testing,” a draft of the warning by the FBI and Homeland Security Department reads. The Trump administration will draw attention to the role of “nontraditional actors,” namely students and researchers employed by the Chinese government to steal data on vaccine development.

The warning will come as part of a deterrent strategy from the administration, including the United States Cyber Command and the National Security Agency.

The U.S. has increasingly raised the alarm over Chinese-funded research and propaganda at American universities. In November 2019 the Times reported that the FBI was looking into 180 possible cases of intellectual property theft by China-connected researchers.

The phenomenon “seems to be hitting every discipline in biomedical research,” Dr. Michael Lauer, deputy director for extramural research at the National Institute of Health, said at the time.

In addition, Republican representatives on the House Oversight Committee last week launched a probe into Chinese funding of American education programs.

“We  cannot allow a dangerous communist regime to buy access to our institutions of higher education, plain and simple,” Representative Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) said in a statement. “We owe it to the American people to hold China accountable and to prevent them from doing further harm to our country.”

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