US shoots down Chinese spy balloon. Video / DW News & Devon Pace/@elitedevon via Spectee
The Government is coy over whether New Zealand was one of 40 countries briefed by the United States Government on Chinese spy balloons flying over their country.
Earlier this month, US officials said the recently-downed balloon flying over the US was part of a military-linked aerial surveillance programme that targetedmore than 40 countries. At the same time the US briefed officials from 40 countries on the balloon programme.
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said New Zealand was “not as yet” among the countries briefed through diplomatic channels.
Intelligence Agencies Minister Andrew Little did not confirm or deny that New Zealand was among the countries briefed by foreign intelligence agencies, noting that intelligence was shared between Five Eyes and that there was a longstanding precedent of “not discussing operational matters”.
The episode is the latest in a Cold War-style saga that began earlier this month when the US shot down a balloon that had flown over the continental United States. The US Government alleges the balloon was being used by the Chinese Government for spying. The US later shot down several other flying objects.
China has shot back saying that US balloons had flown over its airspace without permission 10 times this year, a claim the US denies.
The Chinese Embassy in Wellington has been on the charm offensive, writing letters to journalists and media outlets, and offering to brief MPs on its views on the spy balloon.
In a letter sent to journalists and MPs, the Chinese ambassador Wang Xiaolong said the claims made by the US were “hot air”.
It sent a letter to journalists and MPs over the weekend arguing that China was the victim of a smear campaign on the part of the US, and that the US was itself the aggressor power when it came to spying.
The letter litigated the evidence of massive US data collection exposed by Edward Snowden in 2013. Wang also made claims about sortees in the South China Sea, an area China claims as its territory, but New Zealand does not.
The US shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon on February 4. Photo / Supplied
MPs for the most part seem unconvinced, with National’s foreign affairs spokesman, and former foreign affairs minister Gerry Brownlee telling the Herald he did not believe the US Government had sounded the alarm over nothing.
Brownlee said the letter was “probably what you would expect them [Wang] to say.”
He urged calm, saying that China was a massive trading partner and an important trading partner and countries should try to ensure good relations and despite New Zealand’s Five Eyes intelligence sharing arrangements, New Zealand was free to come to its own conclusions about intelligence, potentially a different conclusion from that of the US.
“Despite our Five Eyes Commitment, we maintain an independent position in all matters,” Brownlee said.
Green MP Golriz Ghahraman said she too had been approached by the embassy, who had offered to brief her on the balloon saga. Ghahraman said if she accepted the briefing she would use it to raise human rights abuses like Xinjiang or Hong Kong with the ambassador.
“I’m not in the habit of talking to diplomats in order to receive propaganda so if I speak with the Chinese ambassador it will be on Green Party priorities including the human rights abuses of the Uyghur people,” she said.
Little is remaining tight-lipped, saying he has been briefed on the surveillance balloon saga, although he would divulge little more than that.
“This Government takes national security and the security of New Zealanders seriously, including space security.
“There is a long-standing precedent of not discussing operational matters, but what I can say is New Zealand is part of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing partnership and it is to be expected that we have ongoing dialogue with our partners about a range of security matters,” Little said.
The University of Canterbury professor and China expert Anne-Marie Brady said the evidence, including intelligence released by the US Government, backed up the US Government’s claims and said surveillance craft may have flown over New Zealand.
She said the “spy balloon was run by a Chinese military technology company and was transmitting intelligence to China. Such an arrangement provides plausible deniability”.
Brady said the balloon operated in the Grey Zone.
“Grey zone means military or intelligence related activities that blur the lines between obvious ‘your warship is in my waters kind of stuff’ and provides plausible deniability,” Brady said.
Brady’s 2017 paper, Magic Weapons, noted that New Zealand had played a role in the near-space balloon programmes of Chinese companies connected to the state.
