Overview

• Xu Zewei was arrested at Milan’s Malpensa Airport on July 3 at the request of U.S. authorities and is now before Italy’s Court of Appeals to determine his extradition.
• He is accused of conducting China-directed cyberespionage under the Ministry of State Security, including targeting U.S. COVID-19 vaccine research in early 2020 and exploiting Microsoft Exchange vulnerabilities in the HAFNIUM campaign.
• A nine-count indictment unsealed in the Southern District of Texas charges Xu and co-defendant Zhang Yu with conspiracy, wire fraud, identity theft and unauthorized access to protected computers.
• Xu denies the allegations as a case of mistaken identity and has suggested that someone else may have used his accounts to carry out the intrusions.
• His family insists he worked for Shanghai’s GTA Semiconductor rather than for state intelligence, and his lawyer plans to review U.S. evidence before requesting house arrest.