The Canadian report claimed New Zealand’s business and political elite had all been targeted by China’s Communist party. Photograph: POOL New/Reuters
Globe And Mail: CSIS report warns of Chinese interference in New Zealand
Canada’s spy agency is being warned that New Zealand, one of this country’s closest military allies, has been deeply affected by a Chinese government campaign of foreign interference.
The new report from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service cites “a curtailing of freedom of speech, religion and association for the ethnic Chinese community” in New Zealand and a “corrupting influence on the political system through the blurring of personal, political and economic interests.”
“The People’s Republic of China’s political influence activities in New Zealand have now reached a critical level,” according to the report made public this week, only a few days after Canada-China relations suffered a blow when the Trudeau cabinet blocked one of Beijing’s state-owned firms from buying Toronto-based Aecon Group on national-security grounds.
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Update #1: Chinese interference in New Zealand at 'critical' stage, says Canada spy report (The Guardian)
Update #2: China and Russia could be looking for a back door to Western intelligence through the ‘soft underbelly’ of New Zealand (Business Insider)
WNU Editor: If Canada is raising red flags, I can only imagine what the other members Five Eyes are saying.