Indonesia summoned the Australian ambassador in Jakarta on Friday over a report his embassy was part of a vast US-led surveillance network, as the spying row that has soured US-Europe relations spread in Asia.
As Secretary of State John Kerry admitted US spying had sometimes gone too far, concern was growing in Asia, with China among countries demanding answers from Washington over reports of clandestine surveillance.
The row erupted in the region after The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, amplifying an earlier story by German magazine Der Spiegel, this week reported a top-secret map leaked by fugitive intelligence analyst Edward Snowden showed 90 US surveillance facilities at diplomatic missions worldwide.
Its reports focused on secret US intelligence facilities in Asia and also said Australian diplomatic posts were being used to monitor phone calls and collect data as part of the American surveillance network.
Widespread reports of US National Security Agency spying based on leaks from Snowden, including that the agency was monitoring German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone, had already sparked a major trans-Atlantic rift.
But the latest reports have brought the scandal to Asia, a region where Washington has been seeking to improve ties in recent years to counter growing Chinese dominance.