Home 禄 Opinion 禄 Chinese Views
鈥楩riends鈥 angered by NZ-US plan to spy on China
Print Edition
The leaders of New Zealand鈥檚 main China friendship organization expressed dismay yesterday at reports that spy agencies from New Zealand and the United States planned to hack into Chinese diplomatic communications in Auckland.
Senior members of the New Zealand China Friendship Society attacked the country鈥檚 Prime Minister John Key鈥檚 attempt to downplay the alleged plan, which was revealed in documents from US National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden.
鈥淚f there鈥檚 any truth in this, I hope the New Zealand government will have the courage and decency to apologize and commit to not continuing with these actions,鈥 said the society鈥檚 national president Dave Bromwich.
The society has been working for 60 years to build ties with China and the allegations undervalue that work, he said.
鈥淚 would have to say that, assuming these allegations are true, it shocks me and disappoints me,鈥 Bromwich said.
鈥淚 really query why they think they can get away with it. I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 the sort of thing we as a country should be involved in.
鈥淲e should value our neutrality. This is not a friendly action,鈥 he said.
George Andrews, national vice president of the society鈥檚 northern region, said he and his fellow regional members had been frequent and welcome guests at functions at the Chinese Consulate and visa office in Auckland.
鈥淲e would never have dreamed that the contacts between the consulate and the visa office would have been invaded in this way,鈥 he said.
鈥淚t seems to me an affront to the consulate and the relationship between us.鈥
Andrews said he was disappointed at the argument that such spying was 鈥渞outine these days鈥 and he dismissed Key鈥檚 claim that the Snowden documents were stolen and unconfirmed.
鈥淪aying they are not confirmed is about the lamest response imaginable. It reflects the hollowness of the position they鈥檙e trying to defend,鈥 he said.
The friendship society was formed in 1952 by followers of Rewi Alley, who helped China during its war against Japanese aggression, and maintained contacts between the two countries until diplomatic ties were established in 1972.
The Herald on Sunday newspaper reported that the plan to tap data flowing between the Chinese Consulate and its visa office in Auckland was run by New Zealand鈥檚 Government Communications Security Bureau and the NSA.
According to an April 2013 document, the plan had verbal approval, the report said.
But it is unknown if it went ahead because, as a sign-off was being sought, Snowden walked out of his job with a mass of top secret documents.
The Chinese embassy in New Zealand on Sunday issued a statement saying China was concerned about the report and attached great importance to the issue of cyber security.
Key on Monday said his country had a very open relationship with China and that he welcomes any discussions about the reported spying incident.
Asked in a television interview if plans were under way to spy on Chinese communications, he said: 鈥淚鈥檓 not going to go into those details.鈥
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
