AU has no secret dossier, nothing to spy on, official says after China espionage report

The head of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat has refuted reports that China was spying on the AU.

He noted that the African body has no secret dossier and nothing to spy on.

Mahamat made the comments while speaking to reporters in Beijing with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at his side.

“What I can assure you of is that the relations between China and Africa, as I described, are unwavering. No manoeuvres of this type can distract us from our objectives,” Faki said.

Read also: China dismisses report by French magazine that it hacked AU hqtrs

“The African Union is an international political organisation. It doesn’t process secret defence dossiers. We are an administration and I don’t see what interest there is to China to offer up a building of this type and then to spy,” he said.

“So these are totally false allegations and I believe that we are completely disregarding them.”

French newspaper Le Monde claimed that Beijing hacked the African Union headquarters in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

According to the report by Le Monde quoting anonymous AU sources, data from computers in the Chinese-built building had been transferred nightly to Chinese servers for five years.

The report went on to further state that after the massive hack was discovered a year ago, the building’s IT system including servers was changed, and during a sweep for bugs after the discovery, microphones hidden in desks and walls were also detected and removed.

However, the report was denied by China through its ambassador to the AU, Kuang Weilin, who called the article “ridiculous and preposterous” and said its publication was intended to put pressure on relations between Beijing and the continent.

 

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