China and the African Union on Monday dismissed allegations by a French newspaper that Beijing had bugged the continental bloc’s headquarters in Addis Ababa.
In an article published on Friday, Le Monde reported that data from computers in the African Union headquarters had been transferred nightly to Chinese servers for five years.
Quoting anonymous sources, it went on to say that the hack was discovered a year ago, prompting a change in the organization’s IT systems including servers.
China’s ambassador to the AU, Kuang Weilin, called the article “ridiculous and preposterous” and said the story was intended to put pressure on relations between Beijing and the African continent.
“China-Africa relations have brought about benefits and a lot of opportunities. Africans are happy with it. Others are not.”
Beijing fully funded the US $200 million AU headquarters building in Addis Ababa, opening it in a colorful ceremony held in 2012.
The building has stood tall in exhibiting Sino-African ties, which have strengthened significantly over the years.
New AU chair and Rwandan President, Paul Kagame also denied any such reports, saying he did not know anything about it.
“I don’t think spying is the speciality of the Chinese. We have spies all over the place in this world,” Kagame said. “But I will not have been worried about being spied on in this building.”
Kagame took over the chairmanship of the AU on Sunday from Guinea’s President Alpha Conde.
“Thank you for your double trust. First as the leader of the reform process, and now as the chairperson of our union.”
“I promise to do the best job I can. But I will need your full support,” he told the present Heads of State.
