The FBI's J. Edgar Hoover headquarters building in Washington. Photo: AP

China needs to take tougher countermeasures against the US, given the latter's recent hyped up provocations, including accusing China of stealing US COVID-19 vaccine information, experts and Chinese netizens said.

Considering China's current success in fighting the coronavirus and its leading position in vaccine development, China seems to have more reasons to be worried about cyber attacks and information theft, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a press conference on Thursday.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security's cybersecurity advisory unit on Wednesday accused China of trying to hack its COVID-19 research organizations to steal information on the coronavirus treatment and vaccines. No evidence has been given by the FBI.

China firmly opposes the US smears. Zhao said that in terms of the previous records, the US is the one that has conducted largest-scale cyber attacks and theft against other countries. 

FBI's accusations and US President Donald Trump's tweet on Wednesday, in which he said "the World was hit by the Plague from China. 100 Trade Deals wouldn't make up the difference," are the latest scenario of the Trump administration's "blame China" farce.

The US is escalating hybrid wars against China under the backdrop of a total failure in dealing with the COVID-19. As the US plays more cards against China with weaker influence in recent months, more people in China, including policymakers and officials, are more rational that countermeasures and a tougher response are necessary, Xin Qiang, deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, told the Global Times. 

Chinese netizens and experts also mocked the US for being a little desperate since it is inciting Taiwan's pro-independence forces, trying to pass the Uygur bill and dispatching military vessels to China in recent months.

"Is the US so desperate to put all its eggs in this gamble against China? US officials are also busy lowering their floor-level morality by making shameless remarks… all these told us to be tougher," a netizen said, whose sentiments represented the views of many commentators.

Xin said that many people in China are calling for immediate countermeasures against China. But the game between China and the US should not be a tit-for-tat. China is stronger and has better tactics than the US. 

Ni Feng, deputy director of the Institute of American Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that China's recent response toward US provocations is stronger.

"If tensions between China and the US continue to escalate, competition and conflicts may become a new norm of China-US ties," Ni said.