Editor-DN
The Chinese embassy suggested that outside powers had intervened to damage relations between the trading partners.
Wellington, New Zealand:
China insisted on Thursday it posed no threat to New Zealand’s national security after the country’s spy service described Beijing-backed groups as “sophisticated intelligence concerns”.
New Zealand’s Security Intelligence Service issued an unusually blunt criticism of China in its annual threat report released this week, saying ongoing foreign interference efforts are “sophisticated and deceptive”.
China’s embassy in New Zealand hit back on Thursday, calling such claims “completely baseless” and “fantasy or outright fabrication”.
“There is no competition between the two countries to speak of, and China is not a threat to New Zealand,” an embassy spokesman said in a statement.
Beijing was accused of infiltrating local groups, replacing authentic community views with those approved by the ruling party.
In one instance, a Chinese-language community news outlet was accused of reorganizing government talking points.
“The report’s nefarious attempts to defame Chinese citizens and students are nothing more than an attempt to sow discord, create fear and promote division,” a Chinese embassy spokesperson responded.
“This is grossly irresponsible, reckless and deeply unfair to the Chinese community.”
The Chinese embassy suggested that outside forces — possibly a veiled reference to the United States — were intervening to strain relations between the trading partners.
New Zealand’s centre-right government has moved the country’s foreign policy closer to traditional Western allies such as the United States.
This has come with a growing willingness to speak out against China.
In March, Wellington said a Chinese state-sponsored group was behind a malicious 2021 cyber attack that infiltrated sensitive government computer systems.
China is New Zealand’s largest trading partner — exporting dairy, meat and wood products worth more than NZ$21.39 billion (US$13.2 billion), according to the latest government figures.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has warned that while China is “undoubtedly a country of influence”, differing values mean “there are issues on which we cannot and will not agree”.
(Other than the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
