NZ Lecturers Suspect Chinese Spies Infiltrated Their Classrooms
Three NZ university lecturers who specialise in China issues have described how individuals—not enrolled as students—were present in their classrooms observing or photographing their lectures. The revelations emerge as New Zealand (NZ) authorities work towards shoring up the country’s national security amid ongoing concerns of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) interference in domestic affairs. Auckland University’s […]
Three NZ university lecturers who specialise in China issues have described how individuals—not enrolled as students—were present in their classrooms observing or photographing their lectures. The revelations emerge as New Zealand (NZ) authorities work towards shoring up the country’s national security amid ongoing concerns of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) interference in domestic affairs. Auckland University's Stephen Noakes, a senior lecturer in politics and international relations, said on one occasion someone was taking photos during his class. "There was someone I did not recognise in the room, and that person was pointing a phone around and taking pictures of the slides," he told the Red Line podcast series. “It made me incredibly uncomfortable, and I followed it up afterwards. I've not seen that person again.” Catherine Churchman, an expert in Chinese history at Victoria University in Wellington, said in 2017, a student began correcting her on her lecture content and telling ...
