https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...n-interference
New Zealand spy chiefs warn of ‘increasingly aggressive’ foreign interference
New Zealand’s intelligence bosses have warned of “increasingly aggressive activity” in the country by people they believe are spies for foreign states.
The
annual report by the Security Intelligence Service (SIS), published this week, said unnamed states are making “enduring and persistent” efforts to collect intelligence against New Zealand’s government, target those with access to sensitive information, and interfere in all spheres of the country’s public life. Agents from one foreign government have cultivated “a range of relationships of significant concern”, the report said.
It did not name the countries accused, but analysts said New Zealand’s strategic importance in the Pacific, as well as growing global awareness of its politics, had attracted the ire of authoritarian leaders such as China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin…..
The SIS credited increased information-sharing with both domestic and foreign government agencies as the reason it had identified “previously unknown individuals of security concern” in the past year. In the case of the group of alleged agents from a single country – subjects of a long-running investigation, the SIS said – information was collected that helped “inform a specific decision that involved those individuals and their associates.”
The report did not give more details…..
There have been few publicly documented cases of foreign interference in New Zealand. In March, a senior public servant took the unusual step of
telling reporters he had lost his job after being accused of spying for China. The SIS did not comment on the claim.
Before New Zealand’s 2017 election, a lawmaker’s
undeclared past connections to the Chinese Communist party raised questions about Beijing’s influence in Wellington and candidate vetting for political parties…..