The government of Kenya has strongly rebuffed claims in an article by Reuters that Chinese-backed hackers infiltrated Kenya’s information systems and extracted sensitive intelligence information. The article which was packed with claims from faceless sources argue that China accessed information related to Kenya’s ability and intentions to pay its debt from China.
Through the Ministry of Interior and National Coordination, Kenya government highlighted why the Reuters piece was an act of bad journalistic faith. By constantly making reference to anonymous sources without corresponding views of either government of Kenya or the People’s Republic of China, the article failed to meet the standards of objectivity, and accuracy.
Similarly, Chinese Embassy in Nairobi rejected the claims in the article, terming them groundless, far-fetched and sheer nonsense. According to the Embassy, Reuters article was a not-so-clever ploy to sow seeds of discord between Kenya and China and starve off the tempo of bilateral ties.
Away from these official reactions, the article is emblematic of long standing attempts by some western media to leverage their reach and influence to achieve certain geopolitical maxims against Beijing, particularly in the global south. From the article, three themes stand out that is worth highlighting.
The first theme is the issue of Chinese technology and global systems security. If it not some story about Chinese companies opening up back doors in the telecommunication systems they implement in Africa, it shifts to Chinese hackers forcing their way into African countries’ information granaries. China is today the largest partner of Africa in terms of digitalization. Many African countries have modernised their information and communication systems in partnership with China; something that has not been well received in some developed countries. Kenya has for instance been a victim of concerted pressure by the United States to drop Chinese company, Huawei from its network infrastructure. Such pressures have been repeatedly rejected by Nairobi.
The second theme regards the issue of debt owed to China by emerging economies such as Kenya. In the Reuters article, the biggest motivation behind the alleged hacking in Kenya, was for China to know the scope and Kenya’s intentions regarding its debt obligations to China. This is despite the fact that the two countries enjoy cordial relations with strong official diplomatic communication. Why would China engage a third party to find out what one of its strongest partners in Africa think about debt? Kenya is one of the five African countries that currently enjoy Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership with Beijing. In addition, Kenya hasn’t defaulted on its debt obligation to China or any other international creditor. Bringing up the debt subject is a convenient vehicle to transport the unfounded narratives around Chinese development cooperation with global south countries.
The third and most important theme is about the emergence of China as global power and the ensuing reactions of the western countries. China’s global visibility aided by its utilitarian partnerships and development outcomes has led to its classification by the United States as the biggest strategic rival and competitor. During the recent meeting of the group of seven countries (G7), British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described China as the biggest threat to international peace and prosperity; without giving any justification to such serious allegations. The reactions mirror fear, and anxiety in some parts of Europe and North America regarding China.
These themes have constantly featured in campaign against China’s internationalization bid. On the other hand, using development and peace as tenets of its international engagements, China has won friends across the world. For failing to find sustainable ways of partnering with China to provide respite against many global challenges, some countries are choosing to draw the line and the divide the world into two poles. African countries are rejecting such models of international politics as reflected in Kenya’s rebuttal of the Reuters disinformation attempts.
Dr. Adhere is a research of international relations with a focus on China-Africa development cooperation. Twitter: @Cavinceworld
