The foreign ministers of New Zealand and Australia have refused to respond to questions over Taiwan’s application to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Speaking at a joint press conference in Canberra, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and NZ Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta both refused to answer questions about Taiwan’s upcoming application, instead saying that they welcome applications to the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
“We have a number of applications to the CPTPP—we’ve got the UK, China, Taiwan, Ecuador, and potentially another fifth country coming online. As a repository of those applications, New Zealand has consistently said we welcome applications into the CPTPP, and it must be a high-quality, high-standards agreement,” Mahuta said….