New Zealand’s spy agency says it broke up a Chinese attempt to stand up a satellite tracking site on its soil, the latest sign that ground stations are becoming a favored espionage vehicle.
The Security Intelligence Service made the claim in its annual threat assessment released Aug. 13. Director-general of security Andrew Hampton said Chinese companies are building space facilities in New Zealand to gather military intelligence, exploiting a location the agency itself calls ideal for tracking satellites and debris.
The report details a case study of Purple Mountain Observatory, a Chinese organization with close links to Beijing that tried to install ground-based space infrastructure in New Zealand. NZSIS says the observatory worked through a local company that likely did not know the equipment could collect intelligence of military value or who would receive the data. Chinese law means the observatory could be compelled to hand information to the government, and the agency believes it would have shared it willingly.
NZSIS said it disrupted the activity with partner agencies, and that this was not the first attempt by the organization and probably not the last. The assessment rates China as the only country targeting New Zealand at scale.
The report also flags aggressive Chinese recruiting on professional networking sites and job platforms, where operatives pose as think tank staff or recruiters to vet candidates with access to foreign policy, defense and security information. Beijing called the espionage claims groundless.
