FBI extradites & arrests China-linked hacker in a rare case as Patel defends his controversial Italy trip

Kash Patel, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), said on Wednesday that his trip to Italy, which sparked controversy earlier this year, set the stage for the extradition and arrest of a Chinese national accused of hacking American Covid-19 research. The federal agency announced on Wednesday that they have arrested hacker Xu Zewei.

Patel described the process as a coordinated operation with Italian authorities. This marked a rare case in which an alleged state-linked hacker has been extradited to face charges in the United States. Xu will now face federal charges tied to a 020–2021 cyber campaign that prosecutors say targeted sensitive research, including work related to COVID-19 treatments and vaccines.

More from World

In an interview with Fox News, Patel said that the bureau was able to "directly tie" Xu to China's Ministry of State Security and its Shanghai bureau. He was extradited from Italy. However, additional details remain classified as of now.

Patel maintained that the arrest of Xu was the result of a carefully coordinated effort with Italian authorities led by Prefect Vittorio Pisani of the Italian National Police. He noted that the extradition process was carried out within a narrow window before additional legal challenges could delay the process.

Patel defends his trip to Italy

The FBI director told Fox News about his trip to Italy earlier this year, which included meetings with Italian law enforcement and Olympic security coordination. He insisted that the trip ultimately helped the agency to lay the groundwork for the arrest.

It was the same trip, and Patel received backlash at the time after being seen attending Olympic events. At that time, questions were raised about whether the travel was primarily official. On Wednesday, Patel described the suspect as "one of the top two cyber criminals in the world for China," alleging he played a key role in hacking efforts aimed at American universities, immunologists and virologists during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We were able to bring him to Houston for prosecution, which is most of what I was doing when people said I was on vacation in Italy," Patel said. The American authorities alleged that Xu reported to Chinese intelligence officials after compromising with an American research university in early 2020.

The indictment alleged that the Chinese hacker was directed to access email accounts belonging to virologists and immunologists studying COVID-19. Interestingly, Patel said that Chinese officials sought to intervene in recent days to prevent Xu’s extradition from Italy.

The FBI boss maintained that "timing was critical", pointing to past cases where suspected Chinese operatives were able to avoid extradition. One such instance he recalled took place in 2025, when a Chinese national detained in Serbia was ultimately returned to China despite US efforts to secure custody.

Patel told Fox News that the operation was "specifically engineered at a time when our adversaries were looking to hurt us during COVID," adding that the suspect targeted research tied to treatments and vaccines. "It’s a priority threat, and it’s going to continue to be that way," he said. Meanwhile, China is yet to comment on the matter.