China’s Foreign Ministry expressed serious concern on Monday after a newspaper reported that New Zealand and US intelligence services planned to hack into a data link between Chinese government buildings in Auckland.
New Zealand newspaper the Herald on Sunday, citing details provided by former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden, said the project appeared aimed at tapping data between the Chinese consulate and its passport office.
“We are extremely concerned about this report. We strongly urge the relevant countries to immediately stop using the Internet to damage the interests of China and other countries,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news briefing.
Prime Minister John Key, speaking on Radio New Zealand, said he would not take “literally by any stretch of the imagination everything” said by Snowden and his local supporters.