A polite disagreement between Pacific Ocean neighbors on Thursday showed a fissure among U.S. allies over China, underscoring the difficulties Joe Biden faces in forging a common front against Beijing.
New Zealand distanced itself from Australia, a partner in the Five Eyes along with the U.S., U.K. and Canada, over whether the intelligence-sharing pact should admonish China on its human-rights record. The organization dates back to an alliance forged in World War II.
¡°The Five Eyes arrangement is about a security and intelligence framework,¡± Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said at a news conference with her Australian counterpart Marise Payne in Wellington. ¡°It¡¯s not necessary, all the time on every issue, to invoke Five Eyes as your first port of call in terms of creating a coalition of support around particular issues in the human-rights space.¡±
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