Q: On December 16th, Reuters informed that a suspected Chinese hacking group attacked the African Union headquarters, and mentioned the report by Le Monde in 2018 that China bugged the AU headquarters. Do you have any comment?

    A: We have noticed the unsubstantiated report. Hacking is a common threat to the international community, and China is also the victim of hacker attacks. The Chinese government is a staunch upholder of cyber security, and firmly opposes and combats all forms of hacker attacks. This September China took the lead to launch “Global Initiative on Data Security”, which has received international acclaims and positive responses. In the absence of reliable evidence, it is against press ethics and not acceptable to stigmatize other countries by far-fetched stories, insinuating allegations and unverified conclusions.

    The so-called accusations of “China bugging the AU” headquarters were totally fake news fabricated out of nothing, which have already been robustly refuted by many leaders of the AU Commission and African countries. Over two years, however, some forces in a bid to sabotage the China-Africa relationship and smear the China-Africa friendship have being chattering about and hyping up the nonsense that has long been thrown into the dustbin. Is this because of ignorance, unscrupulousness or shamelessness? We express strong dissatisfaction to that, and Chinese as well as African people absolutely cannot accept that. Plenty of evidence has demonstrated that those who have proclivities for spying are neither Africans nor Chinese people. As China and Africa are good friends, partners and brothers, what role does spying have to play in such a close relationship? China never interferes in Africa’s internal affairs and won’t do anything that harms the interests of Africa.

    This year marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. The China-Africa relationship is standing at a new starting point of history. We advise those with ulterior motives to stop irresponsibly commenting on the China-Africa relationship and view China-Africa cooperation in an objective and unbiased way. They should spend less time spreading rumors but make more efforts to do real work for Africa’s development. Justice naturally inhabits people’s hearts. Any attempt to vilify China-Africa cooperation won’t weaken our resolve to strengthen collaboration, and any intention to drive a wedge between China and Africa will only bring about self-inflicted humiliation.