While Australia avoids the C word, NZ is unafraid to speak up

New Zealand’s spy agency has dared utter in its formal annual threat report the word that Australia’s does not. The C-word: China. In its annual statement of security threats published on Thursday, the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) said plainly: “There are several states that conduct espionage against New Zealand, but the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is the only country we have detected doing it at scale.” And it gave details. In one instructive case study, the agency explained how a Chinese company called Purple Mountain Observatory attempted to install a satellite ground station on New Zealand soil. Without telling anyone. “They…