What if a simple holiday trip landed you at the centre of a global cyber-espionage case? The same happened with a Chinese IT guy on July 3, 2025. The man, Xu Zewei, claims that he has never touched anything illegal. His lawyers argue it is a case of mistaken identity. Additionally, his phone got lost in 2020. The lost phone has been used by someone else to carry out the attacks. Now, Xu Zewei is blamed for those attacks, but honestly speaking, it doesn’t sound impossible in this vulnerable digital world. This is an era where hackers are breaching large amounts of data, despite proper security measures. So, such a tragedy is possible and can be considered.
The U.S. is treating Xu like he’s a part of Hafnium, one of China’s most notorious state-linked hacking groups. But outside the courtroom, experts aren’t fully convinced. Even people in the cybersecurity world are saying that one arrest will not do much to stop such a massive operation. Google’s own cyber-intelligence lead basically called it symbolic, saying Hafnium has dozens of people working in teams, and the network’s still active. This arrest can warn the young hackers, but still, we have no clear evidence that can prove that he is a hacker.
On Chinese social media platforms, people are calling Xu a scapegoat who has been caught in a digital cold war between two superpowers. Whether that’s true or not, one thing is clear: this is not just about hacking anymore. It’s about power, reputation, and control, which the U.S has got a hold on.
The real danger here is not just about whether Xu is guilty or innocent. In a hyper-connected world, the lines between evidence and assumption are not clear. If the U.S. has proof, then sure, they can come to court to finalize issues. But if they’re basing this arrest on weak links, IP addresses, or digital guesswork, then it’s not fair. Because if we’ll start arresting people over data without certainty, then no one will be safe and innocent.
