According to a report written by the Canadian intelligence agency, the influence of China in New Zealand is so extensive that it threatens the traditional secret contacts between New Zealand and its Western allies.
Since World War II, New Zealand has been a member of the "Five Eyes" security agreement, which provides a multilateral framework for intelligence cooperation between the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada , Australia and New Zealand).
A new report produced by Canadian intelligence warns that the Chinese political and economic influence, in New Zealand, is making it difficult for the island nation of the Pacific Ocean to work under the agreement.
The report, titled "China and the Age of Strategic Rivalry", created by experts from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), contains a summary of the opinions expressed by the workshop participants, organized in Canada by the CSIS.
In a section, centered on Chinese interference in democratic systems, the report suggests that, despite its small size, New Zealand is "precious to China [...] as a soft underbelly through which to access the Five Eyes intelligence" . In recent years, the report supports, Beijing has adopted an "aggressive strategy" that has taken over the power to co-opt political and economic elites in New Zealand as a means of influencing political decision-making in the country.
According to the report, China seeks to gain benefits in trade negotiations, suppress negative views on China, facilitate espionage and control the views of the Chinese expatriate community in New Zealand. Ultimately, Beijing tries to "take New Zealand away from its traditional [...] military and intelligence" partners as a means of asserting its regional and possibly global influence.
Last month, Peter Mattis, the former Chinese analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States, speaking in front of the US-China Economic and Security Review Committee, said that the position of New Zealand in the "Five Eyes" alliance It is impalpable due to the strong influence of the Chinese Communist Party in New Zealand. The same would be so profound as to raise questions about whether the country in the Pacific Ocean can continue to share information with other members of the "Five Eyes" alliance or not.