China denies hacking Kenyan state agencies

China's embassy in Kenya has denied a Reuters news agency report that hackers from the Asian nation attacked key state agencies in Nairobi, including the presidency, to assess whether the country would service billions of dollars owed to Beijing.

Reuters had reported that years-long cyber-attacks started in 2019 when the Chinese started closing credit taps to Kenya as debt strains started showing.

But in a statement on Wednesday, the Chinese embassy said the report was "far-fetched and sheer nonsense".

"Hacking is a common threat to all countries and China is also a victim of cyber-attack," it added.

The embassy says it is a highly sensitive political issue to blame a certain government for a cyber-attack without solid evidence.

It says the ties between Kenya and China are founded on mutual respect.

Kenya has reportedly cut borrowing from China. As of March it owed the south-eastern Asian country $6.31bn (£5.8bn).

This article originally appeared on BBC News.

Photo: Kenya presidency/Twitter