Mike Pompeo accuses China of stealing American research on COVID-19

Mike Pompeo, on Thursday, accused China of stealing America's research on COVID-19.

"The US condemns attempts by cyber actors and non-traditional collectors affiliated with People's Republic of China (PRC) to steal US intellectual property and data related to COVID-19 research. The United States calls on China to cease this malicious activity," US Secretary of State said in a statement.

Also watch: FBI arrests NASA researcher for not 'disclosing' ties with China 

The allegations on China of stealing intellectual property and data on COVID-19 came a day after the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security announced that there is a chance that hackers might be targeting the research being conducted by few organisations.

They also claimed that these hackers might have a direct or indirect link to the Chinese government.

Also read: Amid COVID-19 crisis, Trump threatens to 'cut off whole relationship with China'

Mike Pompeo has alleged that "China continues to silence scientists, journalists, and citizens, and to spread disinformation, which has exacerbated the dangers of this health crisis." On the other hand, he has also claimed that the US and its allies and partners are coordinating a collective, transparent response to save lives.

This allegation was challenged by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, who said that the US is simply shifting blame on China just to cover up their poor way of handling the coronavirus pandemic. 

This is not the first time the US has accused China for coronavirus. Earlier, too, US President Donald Trump had accused China of spreading the coronavirus onto the world and had also been criticized for calling it the "Wuhan virus". 

China and the US have been in constant verbal war for few months now. Trump had also, recently, threatened to cut all relationship ties with China over the coronavirus.