Dave Chamberlain, Wellington
In a recent address to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs in Wellington, Security Intelligence Service Director-General Andrew Hampton highlighted the escalating security risks posed by Chinaโs expanding presence in the Pacific. His comments come at a time when the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing allianceโcomprising New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the U.K., and the U.S.โfaces increasing pressure from President Trump, who has shown interest in taking over control of Canada and turning five eyes into four eyes.
Hampton emphasized that as Pacific nations shift their focus toward economic growth and tackling transnational crime, China has leveraged these opportunities to establish strategic agreements that intertwine economic benefits with security cooperation. He noted that Chinaโs ambitions aim to create alternative regional frameworks and amplify its influence within Pacific Island nations, introducing significant foreign interference and espionage risks.
โThe Peopleโs Republic of China remains a complex intelligence concern for New Zealand,โ he stated. โItโs imperative that we ensure our Pacific partners are aware of these risks.โ This warning comes on the heels of recent agreements struck by the Cook Islands, which have deepened their ties with China in various sectors, including education, infrastructure, and fisheries.
Last month, Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown formalized these ties through a series of agreements with Beijing, raising alarms in New Zealand due to their constitutional connection, which necessitates consultations on security and defense matters. In anticipation of these developments, Hampton had already traveled to the Cook Islands to provide classified intelligence regarding potential foreign interference to Prime Minister Brown before the agreements were finalized.
โWith deeper relationships being forged between the Cook Islands and other nations, my agency will need to enhance our focus on the national security risks involved,โ Hampton remarked.
Despite the current geopolitical tensions, especially with changes in the U.S. administration under Trump, Hampton reiterated New Zealandโs commitment to the Five Eyes alliance. He acknowledged concerns regarding the Trump administrationโs decisions that may affect relations within the intelligence-sharing partnership, especially his embrace of a thaw in ties with Russia.
โThe Five Eyes alliance is our most enduring and significant intelligence-sharing partnership,โ he concluded. โThe insights gained from our collaboration have undoubtedly bolstered the safety and security of New Zealand.โ As the dynamics in the Pacific continue to evolve, New Zealand is poised to navigate the complexities of international relations while safeguarding its national interests.
ๅจๆ่ฟๅฏนๆฐ่ฅฟๅ ฐๅฝ้ ไบๅก็ ็ฉถๆ็่ฎฒ่ฏไธญ๏ผๅฝๅฎถๅฎๅ จๆ ๆฅๅฑๅฑ้ฟๅฎๅพท้ฒยทๆฑๆฎ้กฟๅผบ่ฐไบไธญๅฝๅจๅคชๅนณๆดๆฅ็ๆฉๅผ ็ๅญๅจๆๅธฆๆฅ็ๅฎๅ จ้ฃ้ฉใไป็่ฏ่ฎบๆญฃๅผโไบ็ผโๆ ๆฅๅ ฑไบซ่็้ขไธด็นๆๆฎๆป็ปๆฅ็ๆฝๅ ็ๅๅไน้ ๏ผ็นๆๆฎ่กจ็คบๅธๆๅฏนๅ ๆฟๅคงๅจ่ฏฅไผไผดๅ ณ็ณปไธญ็่ง่ฒๆฝๅ ๆดๅคๆงๅถใ
ๆฑๆฎ้กฟๅผบ่ฐ๏ผ้็ๅคชๅนณๆดๅฝๅฎถๅฐๅ ณๆณจ็น่ฝฌๅ็ปๆตๅข้ฟๅๆๅป่ทจๅฝ็ฏ็ฝช๏ผไธญๅฝๅฉ็จ่ฟไบๆบไผๅปบ็ซไบๆ็ฅๅ่ฎฎ๏ผๅฐ็ปๆตๅฉ็ไธๅฎๅ จๅไฝไบค็ปๅจไธ่ตทใไปๆๅบ๏ผไธญๅฝ็้ๅฟๅจไบๅ้ ๆฟไปฃๅบๅๆกๆถ๏ผๆฉๅคงๅ ถๅจๅคชๅนณๆดๅฒๅฝไธญ็ๅฝฑๅๅ๏ผ่ฟๅธฆๆฅไบ้ๅคงๅคๅฝๅนฒ้ขๅ้ด่ฐ้ฃ้ฉใ
โไธญๅไบบๆฐๅ ฑๅๅฝๅจๆฐ่ฅฟๅ ฐไป็ถๆฏไธไธชๅคๆ็ๆ ๆฅ้ฎ้ข๏ผโไป่กจ็คบใโ็กฎไฟๆไปฌ็ๅคชๅนณๆดไผไผดไบ่งฃ่ฟไบ้ฃ้ฉ่ณๅ ณ้่ฆใโ่ฟไธ่ญฆๅๆฐ้ขๅบๅ ็พคๅฒ่ฟๆไธไธญๅฝๅจๆ่ฒใๅบ็ก่ฎพๆฝๅๆธไธ็ญๅคไธช้ขๅๆทฑๅๅ ณ็ณป็ๅ่ฎฎ็ญพ็ฝฒใ
ไธไธชๆ๏ผๅบๅ ็พคๅฒๆป็้ฉฌๅ ยทๅธๆไธๅไบฌๆญฃๅผ็ญพ็ฝฒไบ่ฟไบๅ่ฎฎ๏ผๅ ๅ ถๅฎชๆณ่็ณป่ๅผๅๆฐ่ฅฟๅ ฐ็่ญฆ่ง๏ผ่ฟ่ฆๆฑๅจๅฎๅ จๅๅฝ้ฒไบๅกไธ่ฟ่ก็ฃๅใๅฏนๆญค๏ผๆฑๆฎ้กฟๆฉๅทฒๅๅพๅบๅ ็พคๅฒ๏ผๅจๅ่ฎฎ่พพๆไนๅๅๅธๆๆไพๆๅ ณๆฝๅจๅคๅฝๅนฒ้ข็ๆบๅฏๆ ๆฅใ
โ้็ๅบๅ ็พคๅฒไธๅ ถไปๅฝๅฎถไน้ดๅปบ็ซๆดๆทฑๅฑๆฌก็ๅ ณ็ณป๏ผๆ็ๆบๆ้่ฆๅ ๅผบๅฏน็ธๅ ณๅฝๅฎถๅฎๅ จ้ฃ้ฉ็ๅ ณๆณจ๏ผโๆฑๆฎ้กฟ่ฏด้ใ
ๅฐฝ็ฎกๅจ็นๆๆฎๆฟๅบ็ๅฐ็ผๆฟๆฒป็ดงๅผ ๅฑๅฟไธ๏ผๆฑๆฎ้กฟ้็ณไบๆฐ่ฅฟๅ ฐๅฏนโไบ็ผโ่็็ๆฟ่ฏบใไปๆฟ่ฎคๅฝๅ็นๆๆฎๆฟๅบ็ๅณ็ญๅฏ่ฝไผๅฝฑๅ่ฏฅๆ ๆฅๅ ฑไบซไผไผดๅ ณ็ณป๏ผๅฐคๅ ถๆฏไปไธไฟ็ฝๆฏๅ ณ็ณป็็ผๅใ
โโไบ็ผโ่็ๆฏๆไปฌๆๆไน ๅๆ้่ฆ็ๆ ๆฅๅ ฑไบซไผไผดๅ ณ็ณป๏ผโไปๆป็ป้ใโๆไปฌๅไฝๆ่ทๅพ็่ง่งฃๆ ็ๅขๅผบไบๆฐ่ฅฟๅ ฐ็ๅฎๅ จไธไฟ้ใโ้็ๅคชๅนณๆด็ๅจๆๆ็ปญๆผๅ๏ผๆฐ่ฅฟๅ ฐๅฐ็ปง็ปญๅจๅฝ้ ๅ ณ็ณป็ๅคๆๆงไธญ๏ผ็ปดๆคๅ ถๅฝๅฎถๅฉ็ใ
