New Zealand’s security agency yesterday said it disrupted an attempt by a Chinese state-linked observatory to install satellite-tracking infrastructure in the country, highlighting the case in its annual assessment of an increasingly dangerous espionage environment.
The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) said that Purple Mountain Observatory, an organization based in China with close ties to the government in Beijing, had sought to install ground-based space infrastructure through a local company that was likely unaware that the equipment could collect intelligence of military value.
The agency did not identify the New Zealand company or detail how the plans was disrupted.
Photo: Bloomberg
The warning appeared in the agency’s Security Threat Environment 2026 report, which said China was the only country New Zealand had detected conducting espionage “at scale.”
“Our last report described the threat environment as being the most challenging of recent times,” NZSIS Director-General Andrew Hampton said. “The kinds of malign behaviors and activities we have seen over the past 12 months are proving even more threatening for a country like New Zealand given its size and location in the South Pacific.”
The Chinese embassy in New Zealand did not responded to a request for comment and the observatory did not respond to an e-mailed request for comment.
NZSIS said China’s intelligence services were the most active espionage threat it faced, while cautioning that the finding should not prevent New Zealand organizations from trading or collaborating with Chinese entities.
It urged an “eyes wide open” approach to overseas business and research ties.
Beijing’s national security laws could compel Chinese nationals and organizations to comply with intelligence-service requests, including by handing over data, intellectual property or system access, the agency said.
In the Purple Mountain case, NZSIS assessed that any data collected would have been passed to the Chinese government willingly.
New Zealand’s location in the South Pacific makes it attractive for ground-based systems that track satellites, space debris and other scientific data, NZSIS said.
It is also a member of the “Five Eyes” security grouping, which includes the US, the UK, Canada and Australia.
Foreign states were targeting New Zealand government agencies, companies, universities and researchers for nonpublic information, innovative technology and intellectual property, NZSIS said.
Methods included cyberintrusions, recruitment of insiders, academic partnerships, front companies and commercial intermediaries.
Geopolitical rivalry, competition over technology and supply chains, foreign interference targeting diaspora communities, and the use of artificial intelligence to spread polarizing or deceptive content were compounding risks, it said.
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