The U.S. Department of Justice said on Tuesday a Chinese state-sponsored contract hacker was arrested last week in Italy at the request of Washington, but the arrested man claimed he is a victim of mistaken identity.

A Chinese national, Xu Zewei, was arrested in Milan at the request of the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly hacking COVID-19 research data on behalf of China's Ministry of State Security. He's linked to the large-scale "HAFNIUM" cyber campaign that hit thousands of global entities,

China accused the US of using long-arm jurisdiction to detain an alleged Chinese hacker in Italy, in a dispute that threatens to turn into another point of friction in bilateral ties.