Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin. Photo: VCG

The so-called accusations of 'China bugging the AU headquarters' are totally fake news, which have long been thrown into the "dustbin" by the African Union (AU) Commission and many African leaders, Chinese Foreign Minister Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at Monday's press briefing.

Wang made his comments in response to Reuters' report on December 16, which said that a suspected Chinese hacking group attacked the AU headquarters, mentioning a report by Le Monde in 2018 that China "bugged the AU headquarters."

China-Africa cooperation will not be disturbed by noise; the friendship between China and Africa will not be diluted by false information, Wang stressed.

He said that China-Africa relations have experienced an extraordinary year in 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 epidemic, during which the two sides supported each other to overcome difficulties; and the comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership between China and Africa has withstood the test of the epidemic and opened a new chapter in history.

As Wang noted, China has signed debt mitigation agreements with 12 African countries, and reduced or exempted 15 African countries' interest-free loans due at the end of 2020. 

Moreover, China has fulfilled its promises and started construction of the headquarters of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention within the year ahead of schedule.

China will promote China-Africa cooperation to a new level by building deeper and more solid cooperation between the two sides, and fostering cooperation highlights in multiple fields such as free trade zones, digital economy, poverty alleviation, and climate change, according to Wang.

The Mission of the People's Republic of China to the African Union also denounced the accusations and expressed strong dissatisfaction recently with remarks by a spokesperson released on its website.

"In the absence of reliable evidence, it is against press ethics and not acceptable to stigmatize other countries by far-fetched stories, insinuating allegations and unverified conclusions," the Mission spokesperson remarked.

Some forces have intended to sabotage and smear the China-Africa relationship over the last two years with such nonsense that has actually been thrown away by African friends, according to the spokesperson.

China and Africa are good friends, partners and brothers, and China never interferes in Africa's internal affairs and won't do anything that harms the interests of Africa, the spokesperson said.