Fiji asks New Zealand spies to review intelligence service

SYDNEY - Fiji said it will work with New Zealand’s spy agency to review its intelligence service, days after the US alleged the Pacific Island nation had been infiltrated by Chinese hacking and bribery.Fiji will reform its national intelligence to strengthen information sharing and assessment of security threats, the government’s Cabinet said in a statement on Oct 14.“A six-month partnership with the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS), funded by the New Zealand Government, will assess Fiji’s existing intelligence structure and develop evidence-based options for reform,” the Cabinet said.The island nation’s US embassy said Oct 13 that hackers with links to China had compromised a regional organisation in Fiji.And last week it alleged a Chinese state agency employee living in Fiji had paid bribes on behalf of Beijing.Ioane Naivalurua, Fiji’s policing and communications minister, said Oct 13 he was reviewing the Chinese hacking allegation.In Beijing, the Chinese foreign ministry responded saying it was not aware of the case, and “opposed using cybersecurity issues to smear China”.Australian National University’s Pacific expert Graeme Smith said the review of Fiji’s intelligence service was “overdue”.A combination of intelligence and policing was required to tackle the threats Fiji was facing, he said.“The election is coming up and a big issue will be transnational crime and the knock-on effects into Fiji,” he told AFP.Fiji has experienced a surge in drug smuggling by international cartels and intravenous methamphetamine use has fuelled HIV rates, which were recently declared a national emergency.Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, elected in 2022, removed Chinese police officers from Fiji’s police force, which is working more closely with Australian law enforcement.Fiji’s previous leader, in power for 16 years, had allowed Chinese police to be seconded to the Pacific Island nation’s force and took on infrastructure loans from Beijing.Fiji is emerging as a major telecommunications hub in the Pacific Islands, as Google expands a network of subsea cables connecting the US military outpost of Guam, US defence ally Australia, French Polynesia and the mainland United States.The Quad group of the US, Australia, India and Japan also pledged in May to jointly fund a “model port” in Fiji, as the US allies seek to reduce the influence of China in the region.Fiji’s Cabinet said the intelligence reforms are expected to strengthen capabilities “through improved collaboration among agencies, more effective intelligence assessments and a coordinated approach to addressing emerging security threats”. AFP