The hearing for personal identification and possible consent to the extradition of a 33-year-old Chinese citizen, Xu Zewei, arrested on a warrant from the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States federal police agency) at Milan-Malpensa airport on July 3, is scheduled for tomorrow morning. The news was learned only today. The accusation is of being part of a team of hackers who allegedly carried out espionage operations on the production of anti-Covid vaccines at the University of Texas in 2020.

The man is said to be a technician for an IT company who came to Italy for a vacation, according to his wife. Upon his arrival in Italy, he was arrested at the airport by the police. On July 4, Judge Veronica Tallarida of the Fifth Section of the Court of Appeal of Milan validated the arrest and ordered his detention in prison. The arrest warrant was issued on November 2, 2023 by the Southern District of Texas of the United States District Court for the following crimes: aggravated wire fraud and identity theft, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, unauthorized access to protected computers, and aggravated identity theft.