Talk:Political status of the Cook Islands and Niue

=Comments=

Recognition as sovereign?
I hate to quibble, but the statement of the Kingdom of Belgium with respect to the Cook Islands doesn't quite say that Belgium recognizes the Cooks as sovereign. It just says that it recognizes « le présent Etat ». This is rather different from, for example, the German statement, which calls the Cook Islands "unabhängige". Q·L·1968 ☿ 17:03, 5 November 2015 (UTC)
 * Neither does the Kingdom of the Netherlands, quoting the joint declaration that is conditional for joining into diplomatic relations with Niue or the Cook Islands. It occurs to me that many countries are on the list recognizing state independence, but I do not see any of that reflected in the sources. I think that's highly problematic. The sources seem to be interpreted rather willfully, which is not what we are supposed to do. I think this article has problems. Gerard von Hebel (talk) 21:41, 12 January 2016 (UTC)
 * In the case of Belgium, I would recommend comparing the language in the source to the language used when Belgium has recognized other states. For example, when Belgium recognized Kosovo, they used the exact same language they used when recognizing the Cook Islands: « le présent Etat ». I would take that as an indication that Belgium recognizes the CI in the same vein as it recognizes Kosovo. Ladril (talk) 02:59, 10 March 2016 (UTC)
 * I do think that interpreting language on websites of foreign offices, even if they are official, is highly problematic in this case. In my experience they often contradict themselves or other sources. Or are not as easily interpretable as some editors would claim. This article has an original research problem! Gerard von Hebel (talk) 19:41, 13 November 2019 (UTC)

two problems
I have addressed two problems by removing some text. The autonomy of the two countries is not dependent on recognition by other states. Also the UN is not an entity that is in the business of recognizing states or of denying them recognition. Gerard von Hebel (talk) 20:07, 27 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Conserning the Cook Islands, the entry for Germany has been removed from the foreign office site and the entry for the Netherlands is an article in a Cook Islands newspaper. For some other countries, expressing respect for mutual sovereignty does not equal state recognition. This article has problems! Gerard von Hebel (talk) 19:35, 2 December 2019 (UTC)