2018 China–African Union espionage allegations

In January 2018, French newspaper Le Monde Afrique published a story alleging how the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa was being spied on by the Chinese government.[1] The surveillance was believed to have begun in 2012, when the headquarters of the African Union was opened, and was conducted via bugging equipment and digital backdoors installed in the building's electronics during construction.[2][3]

Upon discovery, both the equipment manufacturer Huawei and the Chinese government denied the allegations.[4] The African Union also initially publicly denied that such an incident had occurred, although one African Union official later stated that there were "many issues with the building that are still being resolved with the Chinese. It's not just cyber security."[5]

Background
The AU Conference Centre and Office Complex, pictured in 2015

On November 5, 2006, during the 2006 Forum on China–Africa Cooperation in Beijing, the Chinese government announced the funding of a new building to house the headquarters of the African Union, the AU Conference Center and Office Complex.[6] The entire project, estimated to have cost US$200 million, was entirely funded by China. Construction began in 2009, and was carried out by both Chinese and African workers. The complex was completed and opened in 2012.[2]

China's funding of the African Union headquarters was part of a larger project to invest in African development, which also included the establishment of a China-Africa Development Fund, US$3 billion in loans for debt relief and development, and US$2 billion in export buyer's credit.[7][8]

Allegations

According to Le Monde Afrique, in January 2017, the African Union's IT department noticed that their server traffic was unusually full between midnight and 2 a.m. local time, when few people were working.[1] Upon further investigation, the department discovered that data was being collected and transferred to servers in Shanghai, and that this had been occurring since 2012. Microphones and listening devices were also subsequently found to have been planted throughout the building.[3]

The African Union replaced its server and communications technology – previously supplied by Chinese conglomerate Huawei – with its own, allegedly refusing a Chinese government offer to configure the new equipment.[9][10] The AU stopped using ethio telecom, and the encryption of communications was strengthened.[1][10] The new security system was tested during the July 2017 AU summit, with Algerian and Ethiopian cybersecurity experts inspecting the building.[1]

Le Monde Afrique article and reactions

Le Monde article

On January 28, 2018, Le Monde Afrique published an article publicly revealing the incident. The allegations levied by AU officials in the article received coverage from multiple other news organizations, and led to an official statement by China's foreign affairs ministry. Spokespeople for the African Union declined to comment.[5]

Reactions

While initially, both African and Chinese officials denied the allegations, including the head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, various African officials later expressed concerns over them.[4][11] Rwandan President and then-chairman of the AU, Paul Kagame, stated that he was not worried by the discovery, but expressed regret for the African Union not self-funding its headquarters, and instead relying on the Chinese government.[12] An unnamed African Union official told the Financial Times that there were "many issues with the building that are still being resolved with the Chinese", and one African diplomat attending an AU conference was later quoted in the publication as stating that there "would be a lot of anger over [the situation]".[5]

The Chinese ambassador to the African Union, Kuang Weilin, called the allegations "absurd" and "preposterous" and claimed they were intended to put pressure on Sino-African relations.[13][14] China's ministry of foreign affairs also issued a statement, labelling the allegations "baseless" and "complete nonsense".[15]

See also

References
  1. Kadiri, Ghalia; Tilouine, Joan (January 26, 2018). "A Addis-Abeba, le siège de l'Union africaine espionné par Pékin" [In Addis Ababa, the headquarters of the African Union are being spied on by Beijing]. Le Monde Afrique.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. "African Union opens Chinese-funded HQ in Ethiopia". BBC News. January 28, 2012.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. Vaswani, Karishma (March 6, 2019). "Huawei: The story of a controversial company". BBC News.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. Maasho, Aaron (January 29, 2018). "China denies report it hacked African Union headquarters". Reuters. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  5. Aglionby, John; Feng, Emily; Yang, Yuan (January 29, 2018). "African Union accuses China of hacking headquarters". Financial Times.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. White, David (November 20, 2006). "THE CHINA FACTOR: A spectacular resurgence". Financial Times.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. "FORUM ON CHINA-AFRICA COOPERATION BEIJING ACTION PLAN (2007–2009)". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China. November 16, 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. "The Company Overview". China-Africa Development Fund. Archived from the original on November 14, 2013.
  9. Akwei, Ismail (February 28, 2018). "China caught "spying" on the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa". Face2Face Africa.
  10. Sherman, Justin (May 28, 2019). "What's the Deal with Huawei and This African Union Headquarters Hack?". New America. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  11. Blanchard, Ben (February 8, 2018). "African Union says has no secret dossiers after China spying report". Reuters. Retrieved February 20, 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. de la Croix Tabaro, Jean (January 30, 2018). "Kagame Gives African Stand On "China Spying AU" Suspicions". KT Press. Retrieved August 5, 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. "China dismisses "absurd" African Union HQ spying claim". BBC News. January 29, 2018. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  14. Latif Dahir, Abdi (January 30, 2018). "China "gifted" the African Union a headquarters building and then allegedly bugged it for state secrets". Quartz. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  15. Fitsanakis, Joseph (January 30, 2018). "China hacked African Union computer servers for five years, report claims". Intel News. Retrieved August 5, 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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