NZ spy service warns of Beijing's 'interference'

New Zealand's spy service warned yesterday that China is the most active power engaging in foreign interference in the country, sparking a sharp rebuke from Beijing.

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New Zealand faces the “most challenging national security environment of recent times’, the country’s intelligence agency said in an annual risk assessment.

Key drivers of the deteriorating threat environment were less stable relationships between states, deepening polarisation and growing grievances.

Though several states seek to manipulate New Zealand’s government and society, China remains the “most active’, the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service said.

China’s embassy in Wellington accused the agency of sowing suspicion and “poisoning the two countries’ relations’.

“The accusations sound very familiar as they rehash smears and slanders fabricated elsewhere, repackaged for the New Zealand audience,’ an embassy spokesperson said.

“We have regarded, and are willing to continue to regard New Zealand as a friend and partner. But the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations depends on the joint efforts from both sides.”