The Cook Islands’ prime minister yesterday survived a no-confidence vote, blaming “misinformation” from former colonial ruler New Zealand for destabilizing his Pacific country.
The parliament voted 13 to nine against the motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Mark Brown’s government, sparked by a partnership deal he signed with China.
The agreement, sealed during a state visit to China this month, irked New Zealand’s government and worried some Cook Islanders keen to maintain close ties with Wellington.
Photo: AFP
However, Brown said that New Zealand media had sold short his consultation with Wellington on the China accord, as well as overblowing his now-defunct plan for a “symbolic” Cook Islands passport.
“This constant media barrage, Mr Speaker, has now led to destabilization in our country,” he told parliament. “This motion of no confidence has been built on misinformation.”
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian (林劍) did not address the no-confidence vote directly when asked about it at a news conference in Beijing.
“China is willing to develop friendly and cooperative relations with the Cook Islands and other Pacific island countries on the basis of mutual respect and equality,” Lin said.
New Zealand has alleged a lack of consultation and transparency from the Cook Islands government over the five-year “action plan” for a comprehensive strategic partnership that was signed with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強).
Brown said his government had consulted “for months” with Wellington about the agreement, “but the messaging that goes out is that we never consult.”
The Cook Islands had also given assurances that the passport proposal — meant as a “symbolic passport of identity,” not a travel document — was now “a dead matter,” he said.
“It becomes very clear this is not about consultation. This is about control,” Brown said.
A spokesperson for the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said that members of the Cook Islands parliament had the absolute right to free speech.
“Accordingly, we have no further comment to make,” they added.
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat