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A leaked list of Chinese Communist Party members allegedly shows that an employee of the New Zealand consulate was a member of the Communist Party along with employees of the China-based ANZ bank, which foreign affairs experts say is far from unusual. .
The list of members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), obtained by an international group of lawmakers called the International Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) and the Australian cybersecurity firm Internet 2.0, does not show that spies are actively working to serve China’s interests. within organizations linked to New Zealand.
But national MP Simon O’Connor, a member of IPAC, says the list shows a development of coordination by the CCP, which New Zealand authorities should take seriously.
Kevin Stent / Stuff
National MP Simon O’Connor says the list of Chinese Communist Party members shows a level of organization that New Zealand authorities should take seriously.
“There are certainly connections to New Zealand. There are many names, but at this stage it is not clear exactly what positions they are in … And just being a member of the CCP does not mean that they are therefore working for them. ” he said.
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“I hope that banks, for example, are aware of a person’s membership in the party or not, in the same way here in New Zealand I hope that our authorities ask people and do a little due diligence around their memberships, in this case the CCP.
“Particularly for people who need security clearances, whether they are people who work in our consular divisions or in sensitive areas, have these people declared their membership with the CCP or not? We cannot answer that, but that is fundamentally important.”
Stuff you have seen parts of the lists, including names possibly related to New Zealand and the ANZ bank.
A report in the Australian said a staff member at the New Zealand consulate in Shanghai was a member of the Communist Party, hired through the state-run Shanghai Foreign Agency Service Department. The employee was one of several CCP members employed by Australian, British, German, and other foreign missions through the agency in Shanghai, according to the list.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the Chinese government requires New Zealand to employ local staff through this service, and “there is a clear distinction” between New Zealand’s responsibilities and local staff in foreign missions.
“The ministry operates security and risk management procedures in our positions abroad according to the context of each country in which we operate.
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“In accordance with privacy obligations, the ministry does not comment on labor matters related to its staff.”
An ANZ spokeswoman said the bank did not “impose restrictions on people’s freedom of association.”
“As long as employee behavior is consistent with ANZ policies, we respect this right.”
Former trade negotiator Charles Finny, who was New Zealand’s deputy chief of mission in Beijing, said foreign missions to China always had to employ local personnel through an agency of the Chinese local government.
“Everyone knows that a large proportion of these personnel are likely to be members of the Communist Party of China, and they all act accordingly.
“There are security measures in the embassies and consulates that ensure that matters that are classified are not discussed or that documents are not shared with those people.
“It becomes more worrisome if the same model is being applied abroad, and if they are infiltrating bank offices abroad, that would be a concern.”
Stuff
Former trade negotiator Charles Finny. (file photo)
Catherine Churchman, a professor of Asian studies at the University of Victoria, said that the CCP was the “main body” of governance and control in China, and that having employees who were members raised a concern.
“It’s not that unusual, but I still don’t think it’s good. The communist party is not just like another political party.
“Imagine if, for example, if there were a certain number of National Party members in a university, they had to have a National Party committee that reports to the party leadership about everything that is happening at the university.”
The CCP list was compiled and published by Internet 2.0, an Australian cybersecurity firm that released the leaked Zhenhua database list in September, revealing more than 730 New Zealanders caught in a data collection operation linked to the Chinese state.
The Zhenhua database was reviewed by the New Zealand Security and Intelligence Service (SIS). A spokesperson said Tuesday that the SIS assessment was “consistent with our earlier public comment that the information was drawn primarily from publicly accessible sources.”
The spokesperson said the agency would not comment on operational matters when asked if the SIS had received or searched the PCC list.
Internet 2.0 said the list was first passed between Chinese activists in private Internet chat rooms in 2016, and is believed to have been taken from a local data server in China.
There are 92 million CCP members, according to the Chinese government. There are 1.95 million names on the list, 2.1 percent of the party’s total cadre of 79,000 CCP branches mainly based in Shanghai.
Robert Potter, co-founder of Internet 2.0, said Stuff The list showed the CCP’s global ambition, with members spread across most countries and found in places like Melbourne and Washington DC.
“We have found that this list includes people who have been involved in high-profile intelligence scandals … There were several people who were identified as members of the Communist Party who worked in various embassies and consulates. We found it deeply disturbing.
“But above all it was an interesting way of highlighting the structure of the communist party.”
Potter said the list had been assessed as credible by intelligence agents who had seen it and journalists who had contacted some CCP members on the list. Some names on the list matched CCP members who had been expelled from Australia.
