斯诺登表示中俄双方无法得到任何秘密文件

Former National Security Agency systems analyst Edward Snowden says that he did not take any secret NSA documents to Russia and that intelligence officials in China as well as Russia could not get access to the documents he had obtained before leaving the United States.

In an interview with The New York Times, Snowden said he handed over all the documents he had obtained to journalists during his stay in Hong Kong. The newspaper posted its story on its website Thursday.

Snowden said he did not retain copies of the documents and did not take them to Russia “because it wouldn’t serve the public interest,” the Times reported. He said his familiarity with China’s intelligence abilities allowed him to protect the documents from Chinese spies while he was in Hong Kong.

“There’s a zero percent chance the Russians or Chinese have received any documents,” he said.

Snowden’s leaks of highly classified material have resulted in numerous news stories about US surveillance activities at home and abroad and sparked debate about the legality of those activities and the privacy implications for average Americans.

The Times reported that in the interview, which it said took place over several days in the last week and involved encrypted online communications, Snowden asserted that he believed he was a whistle-blower who was acting in the nation’s best interests by revealing information about the NSA’s surveillance dragnet and huge collections of communications data.

Snowden said that he had helped US national security by prompting a badly needed public debate about the scope of the intelligence effort. “The secret continuance of these programs represents a far greater danger than their disclosure,” he said.

Snowden faces espionage charges in the US On Aug. 1 he was granted asylum in Russia, which is allowing him to remain there for one year.

前国家安全局系统分析师爱德华•斯诺登说，他并没有将任何国家安全局的秘密文件带到俄罗斯，并且俄罗斯以及中国的情报官员根本就无法得到他在离开美国之前获得的文件。

在接受《纽约时报》的采访时，斯诺登曾说，他在香港逗留期间已将他手头上所有的资料交给了记者。周四这家报纸便在自家网站上公布了这件事。

斯诺登说，他没有保留文件的副本，也没有把它们带到俄罗斯，“因为这不符合公众利益，” 《纽约时报》刊文道。他说，他之所以能够在香港期间巧妙地避开中国间谍来保护文件要归功于他对中国情报技能的熟悉。

“俄罗斯或中国拿到文件的几率微乎其微，”他说道。

斯诺登因泄露了高度机密的资料而引发了针对美国在国内外的监控活动的众多资讯报道，并激起了关于这些监控活动的合法性以及美国普通民众隐私问题的争论。

据说在上周包含加密在线通信共历时数周，在《纽约时报》的采访中斯诺登对记者说，他虽然揭露了国家安全局天罗地网般的监控和巨大通信数据的收集，但他坚信自己是基于国家最大利益考虑的“告密者”。

斯诺登说，由他的揭秘行为所引发的关于情报工作覆盖范畴的公众辩论将有助于美国的国家安全——而这无疑是当前所最迫切需要的。“继续隐瞒这些秘密计划远比披露它们的危害更大，”他说道。

斯诺登被美国政府指控为间谍罪，2013年8月1日他在俄罗斯为期一年的政治避难申请获得了批准。