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."
New Zealand's spy agency specifically accused China's United Front Work Department of engaging in foreign interference to build influence outside of China.
- 'Deceptive, coercive' -
Not all of its activity amounted to foreign interference, and some could be beneficial, it said.
"However, its activities are regularly deceptive, coercive and corruptive and come with risks for New Zealand organisations."
The agency cautioned New Zealand businesses that under China's national security legislation, individuals and organisations in China must comply with requests from the country's security services.
The Indo-Pacific region is a focal point for strategic competition between powers, the security service said.
China is a "particularly assertive and powerful actor", seeking to extend and embed its influence across the region, the report said.
"It has demonstrated both a willingness and capability to undertake intelligence activity that targets New Zealand's national interests."
Without naming countries, the intelligence service highlighted the routine use of "transnational repression" by foreign states, often by co-opting people to collect information about someone within their own diaspora living in New Zealand.
Looking at other risks, the agency said the most plausible extremist threat in New Zealand remained that of a lone actor, radicalised in an increasingly polarised, grievance-laden online world, who attacks without forewarning.
Young and vulnerable people were at the highest risk of radicalisation, it said.
- Undetected espionage -
The intelligence organisation said it was "almost certain" that some foreign espionage activity was going undetected.
Foreign countries were targeting critical organisations, infrastructure and technology -- mostly through cyber exploitation, it said.
"It is not just intelligence officers conducting this activity," the agency said.
"Some governments take a 'whole of state approach' to intelligence gathering, which includes utilising businesses, universities, think tanks, or cyber actors to act on their behalf."
Global competition and insecurity drive most of the espionage activity against New Zealand, it said.
The service cited "multiple examples" of states seeking covert access to information on government policy positions, security partnerships, technological innovations and research.
China says NZ intelligence report rehashes 'smears and slanders'
Sydney (AFP) Aug 21, 2025 -
China accused New Zealand's intelligence agency Thursday of rehashing "smears and slanders" after it accused Beijing of engaging in foreign interference.
New Zealand's allegations aimed to sow suspicion, "poisoning" the two countries' relations, said a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Wellington.
"The accusations sound very familiar as they rehash smears and slanders fabricated elsewhere, repackaged for the New Zealand audience," the 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."
The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service warned in its annual threat assessment that China was the most active power engaging in foreign interference, including through the use of front organisations.
NZ soldier sentenced to two years' detention for attempted espionage
Palmerston North, New Zealand (AFP) Aug 20, 2025 -
The soldier, whose name has been suppressed, admitted to attempted espionage, accessing a computer system for a dishonest purpose and knowingly possessing an objectionable publication.
He was ordered into military detention at Burnham Military Camp near Christchurch and will be dismissed from the New Zealand Defence Force at the end of his sentence.
His admission and its acceptance by the court marked the first spying conviction in New Zealand's history.
The soldier will be paid at half his previous rate until his dismissal at the end of his sentence, the defence force told AFP.
According to information provided to the court, he previously earned NZ$2,000 (US$1,600) a fortnight.
The court martial at Linton Military Camp near Palmerston North heard the soldier gave military base maps and photographs to an undercover officer posing as an agent for a foreign nation.
During the investigation, he was also found to have copies of a livestreamed video of the March 2019 killing of 51 worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch by white supremacist Brenton Tarrant.
- 'Harm to the world' -
The soldier became a person of interest after the Christchurch attack because he was a member of some right-wing groups that police were cracking down on, the court heard.
While monitoring him, the New Zealand government became aware he had "made contact with a third party, indicating that he was a soldier who was wanting to defect", according to an agreed summary of the facts read out by the prosecution.
The military court has permanently suppressed the identity of the foreign nation.
Chief Judge Kevin Riordan said the soldier "intended to prejudice the security and defence of New Zealand".
A military panel agreed the worst of his offences was the sharing of passwords, an identity card, and access codes to Linton Military Camp and the air force's Base Ohakea, the judge said.
"You were actively searching for things to supply to someone you thought was a foreign agent," Riordan said.
Of the man's video of the Christchurch killings, the judge said: "Keeping the message of a gross murderer is a harm to the world in itself."
The court martial was held in a large, cold hall at Linton, with banners carrying New Zealand Army slogans of "courage", "commitment", "comradeship" and "integrity".
"You have comprehensively breached all of these values," Riordan told the soldier.
The chief judge expressed concern over how the sentence would be perceived given that military detention is widely considered to be easier than civilian prison.
- 'No remorse' -
The military panel determined a starting point of between 3.5 and 4 years prison and gave deductions for the man's guilty plea and time spent under open arrest.
"We spent more time over this decision than any other," Riordan said.
The panel decided military detention was appropriate given the rehabilitation it would provide.
Crown lawyer Grant Burston had earlier told the court the soldier's sentence should start at between 4.5 and 5 years in prison.
"There is no apology," Burston said, referencing the soldier's affidavit, which was read to the court.
"There is just expressed regret and a well-established expression of grievance.
"There is no remorse for betraying... his country."
Defence lawyer Stephen Winter said that although the offences were serious, they were "at the bottom end of offending for this particular charge".
"He has grown out of that phase of his life. He is now a husband... a father," he said.
The soldier was arrested in December 2019 and had spent all but six days since then under what the New Zealand Defence Force called open arrest.
He was required to live on an army base in a military house and was subject to a curfew.
The soldier had been suspended on full pay, earning nearly US$204,000 (NZ$350,000) since his arrest.
During that time, he married and had two children. His wife is expecting a third child.
The New Zealand Defence Force declined to say whether his family would be provided housing during his detention.
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