WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th May, 2020) The US administration is watching China closely for its alleged effort to hack and steal US vaccine research for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), President Donald Trump said during a press briefing.
"We're watching it very closely," Trump said on Monday when asked about whether he is concerned Chinese hackers are trying to steal US vaccine research.
Earlier on Monday, US media reported that the Trump administration is planning to accuse China of trying to steal from US institutions intellectual property and health information related to COVID-19 vaccines and treatment.
The COVID-19 pandemic originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, prompting some in the US administration, including Trump and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to claim it came from a laboratory located there.
Last week, Trump said in a Fox news interview that he believed incompetence, and not malicious intent, was behind the COVID-19 outbreak from China. Trump has yet to release evidence to the public that the virus' origin is linked to a Wuhan lab.
The World Health Organization (WHO) last week reiterated that COVID-19's published genomic sequence proves the virus originated naturally.
