Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2025 to Question 34796 on China: Cook Islands, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of that strategic agreement on (a) his policies and (b) the policies of the Overseas Territories in the Indo-Pacific.

The UK Government will continue its policy of working to maintain a free, secure and open Indo-Pacific where international norms are respected. As part of the UK Government's constitutional responsibility for the defence, external relations and internal security of the British Overseas Territories, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has considered the impact of the strategic agreement on the one Territory in the Indo-Pacific (Pitcairn). This constitutional responsibility is different from that between New Zealand and the Cook Islands. As the UK retains the responsibility for external relations of the British Overseas Territories, the Territories are not able to enter into bilateral international treaties.