Politicians and their families, diplomats, academics, business executives, fraudsters, judges and a sportswoman are among New Zealanders profiled in a massive Chinese intelligence database.
Stuff has gained access to the “Overseas Key Individuals Database”, which is claimed to include personal details of more than 2 million people across the world, and was collated by a Chinese data intelligence company which has been linked to Beijing’s state intelligence apparatus.
The sweeping data collection of, primarily, publicly available information includes more than 730 New Zealanders and is part of a broader effort described by an intelligence official as “a global mass surveillance system on an unprecedented scale” that could be used for political influence campaigns.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s mother Laurell, father Ross and sister Louise, Cabinet ministers, former prime minister Sir John Key’s son Max, and sportswoman Barbara Kendall have all attracted the interest of the Chinese firm, called Zhenhua Data.
Ardern, speaking to Stuff during a campaign stop on Tuesday, said she would not comment on security matters, or answer questions on her own family members being on the list.
“I don't make a habit of commenting on issues around security matters ... We need to make sure that whether it’s issues of cybersecurity, issues of foreign interference, we need to make sure we have constant vigilance.”
The New Zealanders targeted for data collection range from people convicted of fraud and drug crimes to high-profile Māori leaders such as Dame Naida Glavish, business leaders such as former finance minister Ruth Richardson, and high-ranking Wellington bureaucrats including Chief Censor David Shanks.
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Those on the list were given the labels “politically exposed person” or “relatives or close associate”. Many on the list have a current public profile, others have ended their public careers as much as a decade ago. No private information appears to have been collected, and many profiled in the list are simply named, with little more detail.
Stuff has been contacting the New Zealanders profiled in the database. Zhenhua Data has not responded to a request for comment, nor has the Chinese Embassy.
Profiling the ‘human terrain’
Zhenhua Data describes itself as an open source data intelligence focused on “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”.
Articles from the company’s website, now taken down from the internet, talk about conducting “hybrid warfare” and using social media to spread rumour and influence public opinion.
Zhenhua claims to have started in September 2017, and was seeking various employees including customer sales reps to sell services to “party, government and military”, and a writer that could “grasp all the information of the propaganda object”.
The database seen by Stuff equates to roughly 10 per cent of the total database the company had collated. It was leaked to American academic Associate Professor Chris Balding, an expert on China, who then passed the material to Canberra-based cybersecurity firm Internet 2.0.
The influential figures across the world targeted in the database made international headlines on Monday, thanks to a consortium of journalists, including reporters from the Australian Financial Review, the Washington Post, the Indian Express, the Globe and Mail in Canada, and Il Foglio in Italy.
Internet 2.0 co-founder Robert Potter told Stuff that Zhenhua Data had claimed to have profiles on 2.4 million people in its system, however much of the database was corrupted and irretrievable when obtained by his company.
Potter said both China’s offensive intelligence capability, such as hacking, and collection operations are done by third party contractors, which work on behalf of the government.
“In this case, there are a whole range of companies that Zhenhua claims to be partnered with. All of those companies are reasonably prominent in the intelligence and military contracting space in China.”
He said the New Zealand list was “quite small”, although only part of the database had been revealed.
“The collection within New Zealand appeared to be nowhere near as well-targeted as in other countries. In Australia, they seem to have spent a bit of time making sure they get a lot of really interesting people in there.”
Potter said most countries would not invest in efforts to create such massive databases, but such data could be used to try to influence countries – such as occurred in the Cambridge Analytical data leak, and with Russian interference in the 2016 US election.
“If you can profile the human terrain of a country, and identify who the influencers are, you can have a disproportionate impact on the opinion in the country,” he said.
Potter said though the information in the database was largely found in the public domain, people should not be “fatalistic” about it being collected for intelligence purposes.
“When you share something with Facebook, you share that with Facebook. You haven’t necessarily agreed to share that with a third party person who’s scraping that Facebook data.”
Internet 2.0 received an intelligence assessment of Zhenhua and its database from an intelligence operative from one of the Five Eyes countries – Potter wouldn’t say which country – that said Zhenhua was clearly an “intrinsic” part of the broader Chinese state security apparatus.
The operative, in comments provided to Stuff, used the pseudonym “Aeneas” and said the database was frightening for the wide range of people covered.
“It deliberately collects on people whom we would consider ‘civilians’ and not normally subject to collection even in foreign countries,” he said.
Balding, in a statement about the leak published on his website, said the data leak proved the intelligence gathering activities China was believed to be engaged in, for the first time.
“What cannot be underestimated is the breadth and depth of the Chinese surveillance state and its extension around the world,” he said.
The targeted: concerned, unsurprised
“As the Chief of Defence Force, who visits China from time to time for military to military talks, I would not be surprised that the PLA has information on who I am and what I do.” – Kevin Short, chief of defence
“It is actually a little disconcerting … My children don’t necessarily share my politics, so it would be really disconcerting to know that if your children were on such lists, without understanding why the people would want them there.” – Tracey Martin, Children’s Minister and NZ First MP
“China is New Zealand's biggest trading partner, so I won't be the only New Zealander on the list, because anybody that's seriously involved in New Zealand business is doing business with China.” – Ruth Richardson, director of Synlait Milk and Bank of China (NZ)
“I was the minister for government digital services and digital communications, so it does not surprise me there is an interest taken in me, it is not the first time ... I never felt any attempts to influence me, which is quite important.” – Clare Curran, former Cabinet minister
“I think myself and other political colleagues and military colleagues around the world have been surprised by just the sheer scale of this, but seeing as I’ve been fairly vocally challenging what the CCP has been doing lately, I'm not surprised that my name’s on it.” – Simon O’Connor, National MP
“I am concerned at any leak. I can’t see why I would be a person who warranted scrutiny. I have no idea why I would be part of a list.” – Barbara Kuriger, National MP
“I’m not surprised by a list like that being made up. Do I feel got at, or somehow tainted by that? No I don’t. Information these days is just the flick of a switch on a Google search.” – John Tamihere, Māori Party co-leader
“I don’t know whether to be appalled or flattered. I think they probably have bigger fish to worry about. Other than that I think it’s hilarious. I don’t think I have anything to hide from the Chinese government, maybe I won’t go there for a while. But, how fascinating? Do they know I love Chinese food?” – Nicola Young, Wellington city councillor
“I guess it’s no surprise to me that government intel agencies are gathering all kinds of information on all kinds of people ... I don’t think anyone would be entirely pleased to find their name and information is being compiled in a database of this kind.” – David Shanks, Chief Censor
“[I’m] very, very surprised because I ended my association with the local government in 2007.” – Yvonne Sharp, former Far North mayor
“As there does not appear to have been any privacy breach, this is not something the judges wish to comment on.” – Cate Brett, spokeswoman for the Chief Justice
Some of the New Zealanders recorded in Zhenhua’s database:
- Ross, Laurell, and Louise Ardern
- Grant Robertson, finance minister
- David Parker, Attorney-General
- Tracey Martin, children’s minister
- Simon Bridges, National MP
- Max Key, son of prime minister John Key
- Ruth Richardson, director of Bank of China and Synlait Milk
- Simon Power
- Clare Curran, Labour MP
- Simon O’Connor, National MPMatt Doocey, National MP
- Barbara Kuriger, National MP
- Nicky Wagner, National MP
- Tim Macindoe, National MP
- John Tamihere, Māori Party co-leader
- Hone Harawira, former MP
- Parekāwhia McLean, board chairwoman
- Dame Rangimārie Naida Glavish, Māori community leader
- Judith Tizard, former Labour MP
- David Clendon, former Green MP
- Gordon Copeland, former United Future MP
- Sergei Banks, former MP John Bank’s son
- Winnie Laban, former Labour MP
- Peter Hodgson, former Labour MP
- Rajendra Prasad, former Labour MP
- Rahui Katene, former Māori Party MP
- Marama Fox, former Māori Party MP
- Dover Samuels, former Labour MP
- Yvonne Sharp, former mayor of the Far North
- Nicola Young, Wellington councillor
- Anand Satyanand, former governor-general
- David Gascoigne, husband of Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy
- Erin Polaszcuk, Public Service Association national secretary
- Barbara Kendall, sportswoman
- Annabelle Lee-Harris, journalist
- Audrey Young, journalist
- Jason Faafoi, television presenter and brother of Cabinet minister Kris Faafoi
- Ainsley Gardiner, film producer
- Jillian Brown, mother of musician Ladyhawke
- Jamie Oakley, son of former race relations commissioner Susan Devoy
- Win Van Der Velde, former police Waikato district chief
- Rochelle Gillespie, former TVNZ presenter
- John Slavich, convicted fraudster
- David Shanks, chief censor
- David McGee, former ombudsman
- Andrea Reeves, assistance auditor-general
- Paul Baxter, former chief executive of Fire NZ
- Jane Wrightson, retirement commission
- Michael Heron, QC and former Solicitor-General
- John McKinnon, former ambassador to Beijing
- Kevin Short, chief of defence
- Jonathan Curr, high commissioner to Fiji
- Jeremy Clarke-Watson, special envoy for commonwealth trade
- Peter Hamilton, deputy secretary of MFAT
- Clare Fearnley, ambassador to China
- Gabrielle Rush, MFAT divisional manager
- Mark Talbot, MFAT divisional manager
- Sian Elias, former chief justice
- Gerald Nation, high court judge
- Cameron Mander, high court judge
