US President Donald Trump said his administration is willing to work with anybody, including China, if they are the first to produce a successful COVID-19 vaccine.
"We are willing to work with anybody that's going to get us a good result," Trump said on Tuesday when asked whether he would be ready to work with China if it were first to develop a vaccine.
"We're doing very well with vaccine development and therapeutic development," he said.
Meanwhile, Hackers working with the Chinese government targeted firms developing vaccines for the coronavirus and stole hundreds of millions of dollars worth of intellectual property and trade secrets from companies across the world, the Justice Department said Tuesday as it announced criminal charges.
The indictment does not accuse the two Chinese defendants of actually obtaining the coronavirus research, but it does underscore the extent to which scientific innovation has been a top target for foreign governments and criminal hackers looking to know what American companies are developing during the pandemic.
In this case, the hackers researched vulnerabilities in the computer networks of biotech firms and diagnostic companies that were developing vaccines and testing kits and researching antiviral drugs.
The charges are the latest in a series of aggressive Trump administration actions targeting China.
