Will’s Word: Red flags over the FBI setting up shop in New Zealand

I'm not that comfortable with the FBI setting up shop in Wellington. Truly, it raises red flags. Surely I'm not the only one alarmed here?

They say it's about fighting cybercrime and organised crime, the direct words from FBI Director Kash Patel. But then he also explicitly mentioned countering the Chinese Communist Party in the Indo-Pacific region.

That's all well and good, I understand that, but what I'm not comfortable with is that Kiwi ministers deny it's about China. That contradiction matters.

So when Patel highlights that China is a motive, that's not a minor spin. The US narrative seems pretty clear. Meanwhile, the New Zealand narrative presents another view. So who's telling the truth?

This move may reflect growing concern over China's influence in the Pacific. You feel that here, where I am on the ground in Rarotonga, after the Cook Islands government inked a partnership with China.

Many people I've spoken to here on the ground in Rarotonga are worried about that. There was also an NZ Security Intelligence Service assessment that flagged China as a potential intelligence concern.

So could all of this be America's response to those concerns? Perhaps so, only time will tell what all of this actually means in New Zealand's place at the table.

That's Will’s Word.

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