China's top spy agency has accused New Zealand of harassing and intimidating Chinese citizens in this country.
The Ministry of State Security made an online post, following up on the Chinese embassy complaining about the same thing a few days ago.
The SIS earlier confirmed it had engaged with individuals connected with certain "front" organisations to dissuade them from activities that impacted national security.
The ministry said in a WeChat post that the SIS recent annual threat assessment made unfounded claims of a Chinese intelligence threat.
Investigations here of Chinese nationals were "deeply malicious and unacceptable" and motivated by ideological bias, the South China Morning Post quoted the ministry.
The embassy had protested that the SIS report was unfair and had sparked harassment of several Chinese nationals.
The SIS confirmed it had engaged with individuals connected with certain front organisations to "dissuade them from engaging in activities that were not in accordance with New Zealand's national security".
"This is an example of NZSIS doing its job," it said.
The New Zealand Chinese Association's Richard Leung in a meeting with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, called on New Zealand to consider registering foreign agents, as the likes of Australia does, because foreign interference was impacting democracy.