New Zealand is confronting its most severe national security challenges in recent times, with rising threats of foreign interference and espionage, particularly from China, according to an intelligence report released on Thursday.
The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (SIS) report said there was almost certainly undetected espionage activity harming the country’s interests and that foreign states continue to target critical organisations, infrastructure and technology to steal sensitive information.
“Some states, including China, Russia and Iran, are willing to engage in covert or deceptive activity in order to influence discussions and decisions, or gain access to technology and information that can help them meet these goals … New Zealand has been targeted by some of these activities,” the report said.
China’s Expanding Intelligence Reach
China was a particularly “assertive and powerful” actor in the region and had demonstrated both a willingness and capability to undertake intelligence activity that targets New Zealand’s national interests, it added.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand said in an email that the content of the report was entirely “unsubstantiated and groundless, saturated with ideological bias and a Cold War mentality.”
They added that China is willing to continue to regard New Zealand as a friend and partner, but in the face of “groundless attacks”, it would, when necessary, “take firm measures to safeguard our legitimate interests”.
At a regular news briefing, Mao Ning, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, accused New Zealand’s intelligence and security agencies of “repeatedly spreading rumours” in recent years.
“China strongly opposes this,” she said, urging New Zealand to focus on actions in favour of the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations.
The report, titled New Zealand’s Security Threat Environment, is released annually as part of a government shift to better inform New Zealanders about risks the country is facing.
New Zealand Boosts Defence
The country, part of the Five Eyes intelligence and security alliance, has increasingly amped up its rhetoric over the growing influence of China in the region and a rise in geopolitical tensions, and on Thursday said it would spend NZ$2.7 billion ($1.6 billion) to beef up its defence force.
Director-General of Security Andrew Hampton said the threats need to be taken much more seriously than they are currently.
“Our threat environment is deteriorating and that has a direct impact on our safety and security,” he said in a statement released alongside the report.
The report also pointed to the growing threat of violent extremism and said the most plausible attack scenario remains a lone actor who has been radicalised online.
“Grievances and polarising issues in the online information space are almost certainly driving support for a range of violent extremist ideologies within New Zealand,” the report noted.
($1 = 1.7170 New Zealand dollars)
(With inputs from Reuters)
