Politicians, journalists and critics of Beijing were among those targeted by cyber-attacks run by groups backed by China, western intelligence services said this week. The separate cyber-attacks hit the US, UK and New Zealand – all members of the Five Eyes alliance. The network of five countries, which also includes Canada and Australia, share security related intelligence. While Beijing rejected claims of its involvement, the US and UK chose to take further steps against those entities they said were involved, but New Zealand took a different tack. How did the…
Tag: New Zealand
New Zealand parliament targeted in China-backed hack in 2021, spy agency says
A group backed by the Chinese state targeted New Zealand government services in a cyber-attack in 2021, New Zealand’s intelligence agency has said. The government and intelligence agency – the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) – confirmed the breach on Tuesday after the UK and the US accused China of similar attacks. “This is the first time we have attributed state-sponsored malicious cyber activity to the People’s Republic of China, for intrusion into New Zealand government systems,” said the GCSB director, Andrew Clark. In August 2021, the GCSB’s cybersecurity centre…
Chinese hackers infiltrated plane, train and water systems for five years, US says
An advanced group of Chinese hackers taking aim at critical US infrastructure has been active for as long as half a decade, American and allied intelligence agencies said in a joint statement on Wednesday. The US National Security Agency, US cyber watchdog CISA, the FBI and the Transportation Security Administration said that the group known as Volt Typhoon had quietly burrowed into the networks of aviation, rail, mass transit, highway, maritime, pipeline, water and sewage organizations. None of the organizations were identified by name, but the statement said that US…
Climate crisis and China-US rivalry: five top takeaways from the Pacific’s most important summit
Leaders from Pacific island countries – together with Australia and New Zealand – have just wrapped up their most important annual political talks. They wrestled with calls to phase out fossil fuels and discussed how to navigate intense rivalry between the US and China, all while trying to keep a lid on simmering internal tensions. Here’s what we learned from the weeklong Pacific Islands Forum (Pif) summit hosted by the Cook Islands. Fossil fuel phase-out call watered down Pacific island countries are especially vulnerable to rising sea levels and extreme…
Undiplomatic impunity: Chinese embassy leaves New Zealand landlord with $900 bill
A landlord in New Zealand has run up against an unusual problem while trying to make his tenant pay $900 for rubbish removal: diplomatic immunity. Chandler Investments Limited claimed its tenant, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, left a rented mews house in the capital, Wellington, without covering costs for cleaning, rubbish removal and key cutting. New Zealand’s tenancy tribunal has dismissed the claim after finding the tenant to be a state and thus protected by sovereign immunity. “Here the claim is filed against the Embassy of the…
New Zealand intelligence report accuses China of ‘foreign interference’
New Zealand’s intelligence service has accused China of foreign interference in its democracy, amid increasing tensions and geopolitical competition in the region. In a declassified threat assessment report released on Friday, the country’s spy agency, NZSIS, said there were “foreign intelligence agencies who persistently and opportunistically conduct espionage operations against New Zealand”. It discussed “the activities of three states in particular: the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Islamic Republic of Iran and Russia” – but focused much of its discussions of internal interference by the Chinese state, including “ongoing…
New Zealand must boost military spending as Pacific power struggle intensifies, review finds
New Zealand needs to spend more on its military and strengthen ties with countries in the Indo-Pacific to help meet the challenges of great power rivalry and climate change, the government said amid an ongoing defence review. Launching the country’s first ever national security strategy, defence minister Andrew Little said New Zealand faced more geostrategic challenges than it had in decades. The inaugural security strategy underscores how China’s rise is upending old norms and behaviours even 9,000km (5,592m) away in Wellington. “An increasingly powerful China is using all its instruments…
New Zealand PM says Pacific region less secure amid China’s rise
New Zealand prime minister Chris Hipkins has said that the Pacific region is becoming “more contested, less predictable, and less secure” as China becomes more assertive. Hipkins said it was important that New Zealand continues to engage with China to listen and to build dialogue. “Our region is becoming more contested, less predictable, and less secure,” Hipkins said in a speech to the China Business Summit on Monday. “And that poses challenges for small countries like New Zealand that are reliant on the stability and predictability of international rules for…
Solomon Islands denies policing deal with China poses ‘threat’ to Pacific security
Solomon Islands has said that its policing pact with China poses no “threat” to the Pacific, rebuking western powers that raised fears the deal could inflame regional tensions. Prime minister Manasseh Sogavare inked a raft of deals during a trip to China this week, including an agreement allowing Beijing to extend its police presence in the developing Pacific nation until 2025. The US, Australia and New Zealand have expressed unease about the policing “implementation plan”, urging Beijing to soothe concerns by releasing more details. In response, the Solomon Islands government…
Xi Jinping praises ‘great importance’ of China-New Zealand relations
Xi Jinping has praised the “great importance” of China’s relationship with its “friend and partner” New Zealand, as Chris Hipkins visits Beijing to promote trade amid growing geopolitical tensions. Speaking after the two leaders met in the Chinese capital on Tuesday evening, Xi told reporters through an interpreter: “I myself [am] attaching great importance to our relations with New Zealand,” and “China always views New Zealand as a friend and a partner”. “Your visit this time is very meaningful,” Xi said, addressing Hipkins. “The international community, especially countries in our…