China rejects New Zealand spy agency’s ‘groundless’ espionage claims

China’s embassy in Wellington condemned on Friday “groundless” claims by New Zealand’s spy agency that Beijing had stepped up espionage activities on its soil. An annual report by New Zealand’s Security Intelligence Service warned this week that China was conducting espionage against the country “at scale”. In response, a spokesperson for Beijing’s embassy in Wellington accused the spy agency of being part of a wave of “attacks, slander and vilification” against China.