Foreign news
Clive Hamilton’s Anti-China Claims Riddled With Deceit
Australian “ethics” professor Clive Hamilton popularised anti-China paranoia through his two books, Silent Invasion, and Hidden Hand. To support many of the claims in these books he resorts to manipulated quotes and misrepresented statistics, which can only be described as intentionally deceitful.
In a 7 August 2020 opinion in Pearls and Irritations, Professor Jocelyn Chey, a former senior diplomat specializing in Australia-China relations, declared Hamilton’s second antiChina book, Hidden Hand (2020), co-authored with German Mareike Ohlberg, a “diatribe”. “We do not need this hysteria”, she said, referring to Hamilton’s “emotive language” and “rather basic lack of understanding of China’s political structures”. Chey believes Hidden Hand “should not be taken seriously because it is biased, and therefore bad scholarship.”
MISREPRESENTED STATISTICS
Hamilton’s anti-China “evidence” falls apart under scrutiny. Hidden Hand describes increased cyberattacks on “the medical records of current and future political, military and public service leaders”. It alleges these medical records “are likely now in the hands of China’s intelligence services and could be used to identify their weaknesses to be exploited for influence or for blackmail”. (Emphasis added.)
Yet the references Hamilton provides in Hidden Hand do not support these scary allegations. He claimed: “In August 2018 it was reported that 1.5 million medical records had been stolen from the Singapore government’s health database, in attack experts believe came from state-based hackers in China.” Not true—the reference makes no mention of China, and these were non-medical records. Another claim: “The Singapore theft followed a massive hack in the USA in 2014 that sucked up the records of 4.5 million patients across 206 hospitals, and another in 2015 that saw up to 80 million records stolen from a health insurer.” Again, this is a misrepresentation—the reference shows these were non-medical records.
He added: “The year 2014 also saw the theft of 4.5 million health records from a Tennessee-based hospital chain, in an attack again attributed by experts to state-backed hackers in China.” The reference also shows these were non-medical records; moreover, Hamilton was boosting his numbers by rewording the previously-mentioned 2014 hack and pretending this was a separate incident.
Finally, he claimed: “That same year, the medical records of an unspecified number of Australian soldiers, including special forces operating overseas, were sent to China by a health contractor that also has facilities in Guangdong.” According to the reference, the medical records were sent to other countries as well as China; such details don’t assist Hamilton’s narrative, however.
TWISTING PEACEFUL TRADE INTO SUSPICION
When he was a government official in 1985, China’s President Xi Jinping traveled with a trade delegation to the US state of Iowa visiting farmers. Hamilton sneers: “Xi came back in 2012, [and] praised his ‘old friends’ in Iowa for their ‘agrarian common sense, family values and hospitality’. Having built on these early links, a network of prominent [Iowan] businessmen refer to themselves in Beijing as the ‘Iowa mafia’. They are backing Xi’s Belt and Road as a way of getting more Chinese investment in Iowa.”
As the 9 November 2017 Des Moines Register reveals, however, the term “Iowa mafia” is actually only a friendly joke. The Iowa-China relationship has been built over decades, through “modest citizen diplomacy by farmers”. Although the 1985 Xi visit to Iowa is now historic, at the time it was “just one of many examples of how the two cultures ever so gradually intertwined at a grassroots level”. The Register reported that American businessmen wanted to participate in the “huge opportunity” of the One Belt One Road initiative, “in which China plans to spend billions of dollars on international infrastructure to develop modern trade routes”. Hamilton has intentionally twisted a decadeslong relationship of mutual respect and peaceful trade into an object of suspicion and derision.
DODGY SOURCES
Hamilton claims the Chinese government “undertakes extensive intelligence-gathering and espionage”, citing estimates that the Chinese military has “30,000-50,000 plants in organizations around the world”. Bizarrely, Hamilton admits these figures aren’t supported, but cites them anyway! The reference for this alarming claim is a 2016 booklet, China’s Espionage Dynasty, co-authored by “cybersecurity expert” James Scott, the co-founder of a Washington DC think tank called the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology (ICIT). The impressive name belies the farcical truth. In 2018, Scott was exposed as a “bogus expert”, outed for running fake social-media campaigns to boost his profile and operating under a false name, whose only “expertise” in cybersecurity was a series of self-published books on the topic. Today, Scott sells a line of hacker-themed clothing inspired by his now-suspended Twitter handle, but thanks to him thousands of Hamilton’s readers believe Chinese spies have infiltrated everywhere.
MANIPULATED QUOTES
Hamilton criticizes Michael Schaefer, Germany’s former ambassador to China, for praising “China’s ‘enormous progress’ in social and economic rights” and for arguing that “freedom of expression and freedom of the press ‘hardly play a role’ in countries like China”. Consistent with his pattern, however, Hamilton deliberately cherry-picked from Schaefer’s full interview to imply Schaefer is improperly influenced by Beijing.
Schaefer did indeed praise China’s continuing progress in economic and social rights, noting that in reality, “a full rice bowl, a roof over my head, internal and external security” is more important to people living in poverty than freedom of the press. He was clear, however, that the German government regularly addresses freedom of expression and human rights issues with the Chinese government. Schaefer stated that “internet censorship is certainly not acceptable”, but noted that overall, “China will not be able to prevent the freedom of the network because China depends on the internet for its further economic development”.
Hamilton deliberately twists any gesture of friendship, respect or mutually beneficial cooperation with China. His poisonous intention is evident: to deceive Australians into a New Cold War with China.
By Melissa Harrison, Australian Alert Service, 30 September 2020
Featured
Financing Health Futures: Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda Turn to Tobacco and Telecom Taxes in Big Push Against Malaria
African leaders, parliamentarians, health experts, and development partners have renewed their commitment to ending malaria by 2030, with a bold call for domestic financing through innovative taxation on tobacco, alcohol, and telecom services to close critical funding gaps.
The discussions took center stage at the Big Push Against Malaria: Harnessing Africa’s Role high-level political engagement in Abuja, where Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda showcased new homegrown financing strategies aimed at reducing dependence on dwindling donor support.
Africa’s Heavy Burden
Malaria remains one of Africa’s deadliest diseases. In 2023, the world recorded 263 million cases and nearly 600,000 deaths, with 94% of cases and 95% of deaths occurring in Africa. Nigeria alone accounted for 26.6% of global cases and 31% of deaths, according to the World Malaria Report 2024. Children under five remain the most vulnerable, making up 76% of deaths.
Despite progress — with Nigeria cutting malaria deaths by more than half since 2000 through insecticide-treated nets, preventive treatments, and the rollout of the new R21 malaria vaccine — leaders warned that global targets are off-track. The World Health Organization’s technical strategy for malaria (2016–2030) has stalled since 2017, with Africa unlikely to meet its 2025 and 2030 milestones without urgent action.
Taxing for Health Futures
The Nigerian Parliament’s Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (ATM) announced plans to fund malaria elimination through “sin taxes” and telecom levies.
According to the House Chair on ATM, Hon. Linda Ogar, a bill is underway to restructure the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) into a multi-disease agency that will address HIV, TB, and malaria.
The new financing mechanism proposes:
Taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and other luxury items
Dedicated levies on telecom airtime and mobile money transactions
A percentage of the nation’s consolidated revenue
“These resources will provide sustainable funding to strengthen health systems and accelerate malaria elimination,” Ogar said, stressing that Africa must stop relying solely on foreign donors. “We cannot continue to take two steps forward and five steps backward. Africa must begin to show the world that we are ready to solve our problems ourselves.”
Similar models are already being piloted in Ghana and Uganda, where levies on mobile money and telecoms are being redirected to finance health interventions. The Abuja meeting urged other African countries to adopt this approach as part of a continental framework for sustainable financing.
Leaders Call for Urgent Action
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, emphasized that while malaria is preventable and treatable, it still kills hundreds of thousands yearly due to funding shortfalls, climate change, insecticide resistance, and humanitarian crises.
“To truly defeat this disease, we must rethink, join forces, and mount a concerted ‘Big Push’. Funding gaps remain a major obstacle, and innovative domestic financing is the way forward,” Salako declared.
From the civil society front, grassroots representatives pledged to act as “foot soldiers”, demanding that communities have a seat at the decision-making table. The World Health Organization, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Aliko Dangote Foundation, and other partners reaffirmed support but stressed the need for stronger political will and local ownership.
Private Sector and Global Support
Representing billionaire philanthropist Aliko Dangote, the Nigeria Malaria Council reiterated that private sector investment must complement government financing. Meanwhile, the Global Fund confirmed it has invested nearly $2 billion in Nigeria’s malaria response and committed an additional $500 million for 2024–2026, including support for local production of malaria drugs.
The Gates Foundation’s Uche Anaowu noted that while progress has slowed, malaria remains beatable:
“Smallpox is the only human disease ever eradicated. The question is — can malaria be next? I believe Africa has both the burden and the opportunity to lead the world in making that happen.”
Financing Health Futures: Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda Turn to Tobacco and Telecom Taxes in Big Push Against Malaria
Abuja, Nigeria – African leaders, parliamentarians, health experts, and development partners have renewed their commitment to ending malaria by 2030, with a bold call for domestic financing through innovative taxation on tobacco, alcohol, and telecom services to close critical funding gaps.
The discussions took center stage at the Big Push Against Malaria: Harnessing Africa’s Role high-level political engagement in Abuja, where Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda showcased new homegrown financing strategies aimed at reducing dependence on dwindling donor support.
Africa’s Heavy Burden
Malaria remains one of Africa’s deadliest diseases. In 2023, the world recorded 263 million cases and nearly 600,000 deaths, with 94% of cases and 95% of deaths occurring in Africa. Nigeria alone accounted for 26.6% of global cases and 31% of deaths, according to the World Malaria Report 2024. Children under five remain the most vulnerable, making up 76% of deaths.
Despite progress — with Nigeria cutting malaria deaths by more than half since 2000 through insecticide-treated nets, preventive treatments, and the rollout of the new R21 malaria vaccine — leaders warned that global targets are off-track. The World Health Organization’s technical strategy for malaria (2016–2030) has stalled since 2017, with Africa unlikely to meet its 2025 and 2030 milestones without urgent action.
Taxing for Health Futures
The Nigerian Parliament’s Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (ATM) announced plans to fund malaria elimination through “sin taxes” and telecom levies.
According to the House Chair on ATM, Hon. Linda Ogar, a bill is underway to restructure the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) into a multi-disease agency that will address HIV, TB, and malaria.
The new financing mechanism proposes:
Taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and other luxury items
Dedicated levies on telecom airtime and mobile money transactions
A percentage of the nation’s consolidated revenue
“These resources will provide sustainable funding to strengthen health systems and accelerate malaria elimination,” Ogar said, stressing that Africa must stop relying solely on foreign donors. “We cannot continue to take two steps forward and five steps backward. Africa must begin to show the world that we are ready to solve our problems ourselves.”
Similar models are already being piloted in Ghana and Uganda, where levies on mobile money and telecoms are being redirected to finance health interventions. The Abuja meeting urged other African countries to adopt this approach as part of a continental framework for sustainable financing.
Leaders Call for Urgent Action
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, emphasized that while malaria is preventable and treatable, it still kills hundreds of thousands yearly due to funding shortfalls, climate change, insecticide resistance, and humanitarian crises.
“To truly defeat this disease, we must rethink, join forces, and mount a concerted ‘Big Push’. Funding gaps remain a major obstacle, and innovative domestic financing is the way forward,” Salako declared.
From the civil society front, grassroots representatives pledged to act as “foot soldiers”, demanding that communities have a seat at the decision-making table. The World Health Organization, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Aliko Dangote Foundation, and other partners reaffirmed support but stressed the need for stronger political will and local ownership.
Private Sector and Global Support
Representing billionaire philanthropist Aliko Dangote, the Nigeria Malaria Council reiterated that private sector investment must complement government financing. Meanwhile, the Global Fund confirmed it has invested nearly $2 billion in Nigeria’s malaria response and committed an additional $500 million for 2024–2026, including support for local production of malaria drugs.
The Gates Foundation’s Uche Anaowu noted that while progress has slowed, malaria remains beatable:
“Smallpox is the only human disease ever eradicated. The question is — can malaria be next? I believe Africa has both the burden and the opportunity to lead the world in making that happen.”
The Big Push: From Talk to Action
Speakers acknowledged that Africa has hosted too many malaria meetings without concrete outcomes. This time, however, leaders insisted the Abuja gathering must mark a turning point — from dependency to self-reliance.
With Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda setting the pace on tax-based health financing, the continent now faces the challenge of replicating and scaling up these models.
“Now that Africa is at a critical point, the need for a Big Push against malaria cannot be overemphasized. If we align political will, innovative financing, and community engagement, we can end malaria within our lifetime.”
Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda are pioneering a shift from donor dependence to domestic revenue mobilization via tobacco, alcohol, and telecom taxes — a model hailed as central to financing Africa’s health futures and ending malaria by 2030
Speakers acknowledged that Africa has hosted too many malaria meetings without concrete outcomes. This time, however, leaders insisted the Abuja gathering must mark a turning point — from dependency to self-reliance.
With Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda setting the pace on tax-based health financing, the continent now faces the challenge of replicating and scaling up these models.
“Now that Africa is at a critical point, the need for a Big Push against malaria cannot be overemphasized. If we align political will, innovative financing, and community engagement, we can end malaria within our lifetime.”
Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda are pioneering a shift from donor dependence to domestic revenue mobilization via tobacco, alcohol, and telecom taxes — a model hailed as central to financing Africa’s health futures and ending malaria by 2030
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