The Chinese embassy in Kenya denied the allegations in a Reuters report that said Chinese hackers had attacked key state institutions in the capital, Nairobi, including the president. This is said to be done to gauge whether the East African country will pay back the billions of dollars owed to Beijing.
According to a Reuters report, the years-long cyberattacks began in 2019 when the Chinese began shutting down credit faucets in Kenya as debt tensions began to surface. However, in a tweet on Wednesday, the Chinese Embassy said the report was “odd and complete nonsense”.
“All countries are under threat by hackers, China is also a victim of cyber attacks,” he added.
Chinese Embassy spokesman’s statement on Reuters report https://t.co/ixHWyDFtY4 pic.twitter.com/XPPNCWGrtm
— Chinese Embassy in Kenya (@ChineseEmbKenya) May 24, 2023
The embassy said that blaming a certain government for a cyber attack without solid evidence is a very sensitive political issue. He said the relationship between Kenya and China is based on mutual respect.
“China and Kenya and China shares good friendship, good partners and good brothers,” the embassy spokesman said.
Kenya is said to have reduced its borrowing from China. In March, he owed the Southeast Asian nation $6.31 billion (£5.8 billion).
