New Zealand spied on Japan to help the United States at an international whaling meeting in 2007, local media reported Wednesday, citing a classified U.S. National Security Agency document.
The document, leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden and published by the Intercept website, described how New Zealand's Government Communications Security Bureau spies collected information on Japan and passed it on to the NSA ahead of a key vote at an International Whaling Commission meeting in Alaska, according to Radio New Zealand.
Japan had been lobbying for support for pro-whaling proposals at the commission's gathering, while the United States was against the passage of such measures, it said. The information collected by the spies was also shared with an Australian delegate.
Sir Geoffrey Palmer, New Zealand's representative on the commission at the time, denied any knowledge of the events described in the document, Radio New Zealand said.