African Union Caught in Middle of Bitter U.S.-China Feud Over Huawei

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Ghuang (left) speaking in response to allegations by U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios (right) that Huawei spied on the African Union in 2018.

The Chinese government responded forcefully on Monday to a blistering speech by U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios that he delivered last week at the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal where he slammed countries for “opening their arms” to the Chinese tech giant Huawei. During his speech, Kratsios also made reference to the 2018 report by the French newspaper Le Monde that Huawei was allegedly involved in a massive spying operation at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

China’s foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang fired back at both Kratsios and the AU spying allegations during his regular press briefing in Beijing. “The US official (Kratsios) again tried to hype up “China using Huawei to steal AU data”. It is apparently a despicable ploy driven by ulterior motives,” said Geng. He then went on to accuse the United States of “running a planned and organized campaign of secrets theft, monitoring, and surveillance on foreign governments, businesses, and individuals.”

  • Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis.
  • Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations.
  • Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South.

China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening.

Subscribe today for unlimited access.

What is The China-Global South Project?

Independent

The China-Global South Project is passionately independent, non-partisan and does not advocate for any country, company or culture.

News

A carefully curated selection of the day’s most important China-Global South stories. Updated 24 hours a day by human editors. No bots, no algorithms.

Analysis

Diverse, often unconventional insights from scholars, analysts, journalists and a variety of stakeholders in the China-Global South discourse.

Networking

A unique professional network of China-Africa scholars, analysts, journalists and other practioners from around the world.