US, Australia embassies used for spying
Print Edition
China and Southeast Asian governments demanded an explanation from the United States and its allies following media reports that American and Australian embassies in the region were being used as hubs for Washington’s secret electronic data collection program.
The reports come amid an international outcry over allegations the US has spied on the telephone communications of as many as 35 foreign leaders.
A document from National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, published this week by German magazine Der Spiegel, describes a signals intelligence program called “Stateroom” in which US, British, Australian and Canadian embassies secretly house surveillance equipment to collect electronic communications. Those countries, along with New Zealand, have an intelligence-sharing agreement known as “Five Eyes.”
The Sydney Morning Herald said that the intelligence collection takes place in Australian embassies across Asia, as well as other diplomatic missions.
“China is extremely concerned about this report and demands that the United States offers a clarification and explanation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily news briefing.
Australia’s Fairfax media reported yesterday that the Australian embassies involved are in Beijing, Jakarta, Bangkok, Hanoi and Dili in East Timor; High Commissions in Kuala Lumpur and Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The Fairfax report said those embassies are being used to intercept phone calls and internet data across Asia.
In a statement, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said his government “cannot accept and strongly protests the news of the existence of wiretapping facilities at the US Embassy in Jakarta.”
“It should be emphasized that if confirmed, such action is not only a breach of security, but also a serious breach of diplomatic norms and ethics, and certainly not in tune with the spirit of friendly relations between nations,” he said.
The surveillance equipment is concealed, including antennas that are “sometimes hidden in false architectural features or roof maintenance sheds,” according to the Snowden document.
Des Ball, a top Australian intelligence expert, said he had personally seen covert antennas in five of the embassies named in the Fairfax report. He said what Der Spiegel has revealed is hardly surprising or uncommon. Many countries have routinely used embassies as bases to covertly listen in on phone calls, and reports of such surveillance have been public for decades, he said.
“We use embassies to pick up stuff that we can’t pick up from ground stations here in Australia — and lots of countries do that,” said Ball, a professor with the Australian National University’s Strategic and Defence Studies Center.
According to the Snowden document, the spying sites are small in size and staff. “They are covert, and their true mission is not known by the majority of the diplomatic staff at the facility where they are assigned,” it said.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said only that the government had not broken any laws. “Every Australian governmental agency, every Australian official, at home and abroad, operates in accordance with the law,” Abbott told reporters. “And that’s the assurance that I can give people.”
But Malaysian Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said his government viewed the allegations as a serious matter and would investigate whether the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur was being used for spying.
Thailand’s National Security Council Secretary-General, Lieutenant General Paradorn Pattanathabutr, said the government told the US that spying was a crime under Thai laws, and that Thailand would not cooperate if asked to help eavesdrop.
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