Today is a public holiday in South Africa – Human Rights Day. There’s a certain irony in spending the day focusing on China’s President Xi Jinping’s visit to Vladimir Putin, knee-deep in a human rights disaster.
What one makes of the Ukraine crisis increasingly maps on where one lives. This is made clear by a remarkable new set of polling data recently published by the European Council on Foreign Relations ...
Category: Cyber Espionage
Israeli Counter Intelligence Services Scramble to Collect Every Mug Given as a Gift By Chinese After Discovering Bug
Israel's internal security service Shin Bet is moving quickly to identify all foreign gifts given to government officials after locating a listening device in a thermal mug given by China, according to reports from Israel's GLZ radio. Agents ...
China Accused (Again) of Spying on the African Union
Today's Reuters report that detailed how suspected Chinese hackers broke into African Union data networks to siphon off surveillance video sparked a whole new round of "I told you so." The initial reaction online to the report was essentially what do you ...
Transsion’s Transgressions in Africa
Transsion has long been the pride of China's private sector engagement in Africa. It's conquered the African mobile phone market by providing affordable devices that include a number of fantastic features customized specifically for local consumers. Its suite of brands including Tecno, ...
A Conversation With Joshua Meservey About Alleged Chinese Spying in Africa
The Chinese have been prolific over the past decade in constructing hundreds of government buildings across the continent. Parliaments, ministries, presidential palaces, and most notably, even the headquarters of the African Union. Many of these buildings serve an important purpose by ...
Skepticism About The Heritage Foundation’s Recent Report on Alleged Chinese Spying in Africa
China's political attaché at its embassy in Lesotho echoed doubts raised by journalism fellow Thuso Mosabala about the lack of on-the-record sourcing in The Heritage Foundation's recent report "Government Buildings in Africa Are a Likely Vector for Chinese Spying" by analyst Josh Meservey. ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Xi Bets on Global South in Moscow
Heritage Foundation to Chinese Government: Thank You for Promoting Our New Report on Chinese Spying in Africa
John Cooper, a senior communications manager at the Washington, D.C.-based Heritage Foundation think tank, gave a shout out this weekend on Twitter to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian for helping to publicize the new report by Africa & Middle East analyst ...
Heritage Foundation: China’s Construction of Government Buildings in Africa Potentially Enhances Beijing’s Spying Capabilities
The conservative Heritage Foundation in the United States published a new report on Wednesday arguing that China's intelligence capabilities are potentially enhanced by Beijing's drive to construct government buildings across the continent. "Chinese companies have constructed or renovated ...
Q&A: China’s Internet Governance Model and the Rise of Digital Surveillance in Africa
From time to time when Cobus and I are interviewed by the news media seeking comment on a particular China-Africa topic, we like to share the transcript of the interview here both for reasons of transparency after the article is public and because the discussions are often ...
Q&A: Chinese Sales of Surveillance Technology to African Governments is Understandably Worrisome but in no way Exceptional
The recent Wall Street Journal investigation that revealed Huawei employees allegedly aided the Ugandan and Zambian governments to spy on political opponents confirmed, in many peoples' minds, the suspicions about Huawei and how the company presents a viable threat to civil rights, particularly in non-democratic societies. ...
Huawei VP: WSJ Allegations of Spying in Africa Is Just “Fake News”
"Fake news" is how Huawei's vice president of strategy, Andrew Williamson, characterized last week's Wall Street Journal story on alleged spying in Uganda and Zambia. He made the comments in an interview with the state-led Russia Today television network. It's Fascinating ...