John Battersby: Security analyst on the Chinese Embassy accusing NZ spies of harassment

A security analyst's surprised the Chinese Embassy is taking such issue to one of its citizens being searched.

It says a Chinese citizen was subject to an interrogation and harassment at a New Zealand airport - with their personal devices taken away.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters says the embassy's statement is no risk to the NZ-China relationship.

Security analyst John Battersby says there's some surface level tension on display.

He says it does follow a threat environment report highlighting China, which it disputed.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Okay, China's ambassador is accusing our spies of harassing a
Chinese citizen at the border. He says the sis questioned
the man without cause and then confiscated his devices, some
of them he hasn't been able to get back yet,
Sas Minister Judith Collins, though, says New Zealand has the
right to protect its own borders. John Battersby is a
security expert and teaching fellow at Massi University and with US.
Hello John, Hello, what do you think has gone on here?

Speaker 2 (00:23):
I don't think too much has gone on here. I
think the Minister is correct. New Zealand has the right
to protect its borders from any number of risk that sees.
It could be biosecurity, it could be organized crime, it
could be could be anything. So we've got the right
to do that, and clearly that's what our agencies were
doing on this particular occasion. I'm surprised a little bit

(00:43):
that the embassy has made at public that somebody was
stopped and questioned. I'm pretty sure it doesn't happen to everybody,
but it would happen feeling routinely in a number of countries.
I would have thought so I think it's a little
bit more than it needs to be to be fair.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
What do you think then is going on here? Is
this a sign of increasing tensions between New Zealand and China?
Like stuff that they would normally let slip they are
not going to tolerate.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
I think there seems to be a little bit of
surface level tension going on. At the moment. There was
the threatened Environment assessment, there was the journeys to know
all about that, and then this has sort of comment. So, yes,
a little bit of surface level tension. China is our
strongest export market, it's our largest trading partner. We are friends,

(01:30):
we are not enemies. So I would say surface level
tension and likely to be dissipated as long as nobody
makes eating more of it.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yeah, brilliant, Hey John, always good to talk to you.
Thank you, John battersby security expert and teaching fellow at
Massive University. For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive, listen
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