Just one week from Christmas in 2025, a report revealed that the Chinese consulate had established a close relationship with a member of New Zealand Police.
The consulate was using the relationship to investigate and gather information on people in New Zealand.
NZSIS reports that this person stopped important security advice being shared with the chinese community claiming that the information would not be well received.
This ‘gatekeeper’ made these decisions because it was against the interests of the CCP.
A blatant example of foreign interference that NZSIS now uses as a case study.
What came of this story?
Nothing.
The police official resigned just months before the report was released. That was the end of that story.
One article providing some public scrutiny.
No further accountability.
No real leadership.
No change.
Now one year on there’s another distressing report.
4am on Election day, an article is released showing that the CCP keeps watch on people in NZ.
The article highlights that, “Chinese authorities have designated 10 ‘liaison points’ in New Zealand as part of a global network used to monitor and control Chinese communities.”
The original report notest that the presence of liaison points across New Zealand that are “part of a determined Chinese Communist Party policy to export its domestic system of surveillance and control…”
The article ends with a call to all countries to adopt a foreign influence registry scheme.
It is brazenly clear that the rising threat of foreign interference will simply get brushed under the rug and ignored if we are not willing to constantly call it out.
Our political machine may have paused for a short time but external threats to our democratic norms and institutions will certainly continue to exist.
If we are not vigilant, these threats won’t just persist, they will grow larger, consuming our liberties in their wake.
PILLAR has been laser focused on this issue since last year, dedicating resources and attention to the corrosive impact this threat has on our democracy and your civil liberties.
If today one community cannot speak up and exercise their freedoms, it is only matter of time before others, including you, are silenced too.
A new Government will soon be setting the agenda for the next three years with new ministers and policies; PILLAR will pressure incoming ministers to pass legislation that decisively addresses the issue of foreign interference.
New Zealand is the only country in the 5-Eyes system without a foreign agents registry.
In an increasingly turbulent world, it’s time we did our part.
Thank you for standing with us.
