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Fingers pointed at MEDCs over unfounded allegations of cybercrime in DISEC

by Ashmi Chatterjee and Zelene Lam



During a heated committee session at DISEC, tempers ran high as loyalties of certain countries were questioned without sufficient evidence.


Unfounded mistrust of countries


Discussions plunged directly into the crux of the matter with delegates identifying the problems present in defending against cybercrime and potential solutions to it as early as in their opening speeches. However, the discussion turned in a problematic direction when they called the loyalties of China and North Korea into question.


It was said that due to the fact that China had previously assisted African countries with the building of infrastructure by providing them with loans, China’s ‘motivations might not be pure’. This sparked debate with delegates discussing whether countries such as China, North Korea and Russia who had been previously accused of misusing information without evidence should be permitted to assist LEDCs with protection against cybercrime.


Starting off the debate on the wrong foot by sowing distrust amongst countries was undoubtedly not the best course of action, given that the UNSC is built on years of friendly diplomatic relations between nations.


China has had a history of friendly diplomatic relations with African nations and has had no issues with allegations of improper debt management. In fact, China has consistently provided African nations with debt relief and restructuring in light of economic strains during this COVID-19 period. In addition, China has not pursued any lawsuits with African nations who had been unable to repay their debts due to difficulties faced during the pandemic. China hopes to continue its diplomatic relations with any other nations and looks unfavourably upon such unfounded accusations of hostility.


Allegations of future exploitation of LEDCs


Premature accusations of hostility and manipulation were brought up by the delegates of Cambodia, Iran and Saudi Arabia. It was said that delegates were concerned about certain countries’ intentions to use local backdoor technologies to manipulate this information. Such allegations may have been uncalled for and did not further international cooperation and diplomacy between nations, which is what the UNSC stands for.


It was disheartening to think that some nations entertained the possibility of untruthful and manipulative actions from their fellow UN member states. China hopes that in further discussions during the process of choosing a draft resolution, countries may be able to come to a common consensus and may remain in cooperation with each other.


Unclear loyalties of nations present


Debates were sparked when countries were attempting to decide on the formation of political blocs. There were suggestions of forming a combined, merged bloc with all delegates present in UNSC, however after further negotiation, sadly this was not to be the case as many nations had varying opinions and interests in mind.


However, the loyalties of some nations present were rather vague and could not carry much weight throughout the debate. For example, the delegate of the USA claimed that countries need to look out for their own interests and that they pushed for ‘no stringent regulation of cyber warfare’ as they claimed that cyber warfare techniques were constantly evolving and that they could not be kept up with. This could be doubted as it is definitely best to take whatever measures we are capable of to deal with cyber warfare and China is ready to do just that: forge strong diplomatic relations so that we may fight the threat of cyberwarfare together.


Hence, China hopes to forge stronger diplomatic relations with other nations, and to create bonds based on trust to further the fight against cyberwarfare together.


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