Finger pointed at China over burglary of Kiwi academic

Saturday, 22 September 2018

University of Canterbury professor Anne-Marie Brady.

There is 'only one likely culprit' for a burglary at a Christchurch academic's home, a former CIA analyst claims: China.

Peter Mattis points the finger at China over the burglary and other break-ins at Professor Anne-Marie Brady's office, the New York Times reports.

Brady made waves last year with the release of her research paper Magic Weapons, detailing how New Zealand was becoming 'saturated with … political influence activities'.

The University of Canterbury academic's home was broken into in February and three laptops, including one on which she wrote the paper, two cellphones and an encrypted memory stick from her last trip to China were taken.

230818 NEWS Photo: Joseph Johnson/StuffChina expert Anne-Marie Brady is condemning the presence of Confucius Institutes in New Zealand universities. She is a author of many books on the subject and works in the field of politics in the University of Canterbury.

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She also received a letter warning her of 'what was going on' and threatening that she would be attacked.

Mattis said given Brady's profile, 'intimidating her into silence would in a sense be a major win' for China, according to the New York Times.

This week the New Zealand Herald reported the Security Intelligence Service (SIS) searched Brady's office for listening devices.

It was also believed that a search had also been conducted at her home.

The police investigation into the February burglary was still ongoing and it also involved Interpol and the SIS.

Paul Buchanan, a former Pentagon analyst and director of 36th Parallel Assessments, a security consultancy in Auckland, told the Times: 'Everything in the New Zealand government's response points to a state, a state-sponsored entity, or a foreign criminal organisation being involved with this'.