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.
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
RSS