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New Zealand Defense Minister Jonathan Coleman said during a press conference at the Pentagon on Monday he is not concerned about the U.S. spying on New Zealand, after recent revelations about the sweeping nature of the NSA surveillance program.
"New Zealand's not worried at all about this," Coleman told reporters. "We don't believe it would be occurring, and quite frankly there would be nothing anyone could hear in our private conversations that we wouldn't be prepared to share publicly," he added.
Coleman said there continued to be a high level of trust between the United States and New Zealand.
The meeting between U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and his New Zealand counterpart took place about a week after the U.S. drew heavy criticism over accusations the National Security Agency had tapped the mobile phone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and conducted widespread electronic snooping in France and Italy, following disclo
