Friday’s public threat assessment points to “increased strategic competition” in the Indo-Pacific region as driving the interference from China.

Beijing’s “efforts to advance its political, economic, military and security involvement in the Pacific is a major factor driving strategic competition in our home region,” it says.

In previous security overview reports, NZSIS has spoken broadly about having gathered evidence of interference and espionage activities in New Zealand by foreign states and agents, but not named specific countries or governments.

In one case study – not attributed to a specific state – it said “an undeclared foreign intelligence officer … targeted and sought to cultivate a New Zealander with access to information and people networks of interest to the foreign state [and] almost certainly sought to obtain political, economic and national security intelligence through the relationship.”

On the threat from Iran, the agency said it had detected state actors “monitoring and providing reporting on Iranian communities and dissident groups”.