China slams ‘groundless’ espionage claims by New Zealand spy agency

China's embassy in Wellington denounced on Friday the "groundless" allegations made by New Zealand's spy agency, the Security Intelligence Service (SIS), regarding an increase in Chinese espionage on New Zealand soil. The SIS had warned in an annual report that China was conducting espionage against the country "at scale." The Chinese embassy spokesperson accused the SIS of being part of a wave of "attacks, slander and vilification" against China, stating that its false allegations either misrepresented normal exchanges and cooperation as espionage or were entirely fabricated.

This statement follows an official complaint raised by the embassy a few weeks earlier in response to Foreign Minister Winston Peters' comment to a Chinese-born lawmaker to "go back to your own country." The embassy accused unnamed forces in New Zealand of serving as a pawn for anti-China forces, urging them not to fuel their grievances with "poison" and not to make decisions that would ultimately harm themselves.

Additionally, the SIS warned that Beijing's spies were attempting to recruit individuals with access to state secrets through professional networking sites and had disrupted an effort by the Chinese military-linked Purple Mountain Observatory to covertly set up Ground Based Space Infrastructure (GBSI) in New Zealand. The local company involved was likely unaware of the potential for collecting "military value" intelligence.

This was not the first time this organization had attempted to install GBSI in New Zealand, and it was unlikely to be the last, according to the SIS report.