Key: No proof NZ spied on China

  • Breaking
  • 19/04/2015

Prime Minister John Key says there is nothing in documents released by Edward Snowden that proves New Zealand planned to spy on China in 2013.

The documents, released by former NSA contractor Snowden and detailed in the New Zealand Herald, suggest operatives in New Zealand and in the US plotted to intercept communications between the Chinese Consulate in Auckland and its passport office, using that weak point to access more of the Chinese government's computer systems.

The plan, codenamed 'Frostbite' by the GCSB and 'Basilhayden' by the NSA, was given "verbal approval" in April 2013, the same month Mr Key went on a trip to China.

Speaking on TV3's Paul Henry programme this morning, Mr Key called the Herald's report "breathless", and said the paper was "forced to say they didn't even know if this had actually happened".

He also took a shot at the source of the documents, and journalists Glenn Greenwald and Nicky Hager, who have worked with Snowden to reveal NSA documents in the past.

"The last time we forensically dived down into information presented by Greenwald, Snowden and Hager, we proved them to be categorically wrong."

Yesterday's Herald report was in fact written by senior reporter David Fisher, while Mr Hager contributed to a report on The Intercept, a news website run by Mr Greenwald.

Mr Key refused to confirm New Zealand wasn't spying on China.

"I'm not going to talk about any foreign intelligence that we gather about any country or any particular reason."

Nor would he comment on how it could hamper trade relations between the two countries.

"I'm not going to go into that because I can't give you an answer, because I don't know. But what I can tell you is we've got an immensely strong relationship with China. It's a very open relationship, and we talk to them about all sorts of things. If they want to raise any issue with us, they're welcome to. But I'll be surprised if they do."

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source: newshub archive