New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta has committed to the nation’s “vital” partnership with the Five Eyes spy network a day after stating in a speech on China that she’s “uncomfortable” with expanding its remit.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Mahuta walked back her remarks, recommitting to the “security and intelligence partnership” with the other members of the Five Eyes intelligence network, describing it as vital to the nation’s defense.
New Zealand is a real beneficiary of the arrangement and will continue to actively engage with the Five Eyes alliance as we always have.
On Monday, the foreign minister told the New Zealand China Council that “we are uncomfortable with expanding the remit of the Five Eyes relationship,” seen as a condemnation of the group’s recent statements critical of China’s alleged human rights violations against Uighurs in Xinjiang and the crackdown in Hong Kong.
Beijing has responded to the criticism thrown at it by claiming that “the Five Eyes have taken coordinated steps to gang up on China,” opposing its intervention into the Asian nation’s domestic affairs.
New Zealand has, in the past, sought to distance itself from the Five Eyes network’s comments on activities in China, viewing it as being “out of the remit” of the group and risking the relationship between Wellington and Beijing.
On Wednesday, Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne will arrive in New Zealand to meet with Mahuta, the first time the pair will have engaged in a face-to-face meeting since their borders reopened after getting Covid under control.
Australia’s relationship with China has worsened since the pandemic began, after Canberra called for an inquiry into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic in Wuhan, which Beijing took insult at.
Like this story? Share it with a friend!
New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta has committed to the nation’s “vital” partnership with the Five Eyes spy network a day after stating in a speech on China that she’s “uncomfortable” with expanding its remit. Read Full Article at RT.com Read More
A shift in the world’s power base, alliances and economic strength, will undoubtedly happen within the coming years. In fact, it’s already ongoing. But not necessarily according to Klaus Schwab’s (WEF) “The Great Reset”. “Not necessarily”, because We, The People, can stop it. Plus, there are nations and their allies, who do not agree and […]
Alfred McCoy, Living in a Quagmire World [Note for TomDispatch Readers: Just a small reminder that, if you find today’s Alfred McCoy piece as fascinating as I did, a signed, personalized copy of his remarkable book on empire, To Govern the Globe: World Orders and Catastrophic Change, is still available to anyone who visits the TD contribution page and donates $125 or […]
In 1994, Miguel Díaz-Canel began a new position in Santa Clara, not far from his birthplace of Placetas, as the provincial secretary of the Cuban Communist Party. He set aside the air-conditioned car given to him and went to work each morning on his bicycle, his long hair and jeans defining him. Díaz-Canel organized rock […]
