New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in funding through extensive deals made in China through smaller Pacific neighbors.
Wellington, the largest funder of the Cook Islands, said the deal Wellington reached in February blinded the eyes and covered infrastructure, tourism, technology and even crucially deep-sea mineral exploration.
A spokesman for New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said new funds would not be considered until the Cook Islands “take specific steps to fix relationships and restore trust”.
NZ $18.2 million ($11 million; £8 million) funding has ceased, as concerns among U.S. allies, including New Zealand and Australia, Beyond China’s rise in the Pacific.
“Funding relies on high-trust bilateral relations,” a Peters spokesman said Thursday.
The spokesman added: “New Zealand hopes that steps will be taken quickly to address New Zealand’s concerns so that such support can be restored as soon as possible.”
The Cook Islands responded that it was “determining the issues to be addressed”, adding that it had “highly valued” New Zealand’s development assistance for years.
“Constructive dialogue is underway and the Cook Islands remain committed to getting close to New Zealand to understand where their concerns are and how they can be addressed,” its Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has made an official visit to China and will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday.
A Peters spokesman said he was not worried that Beijing might have a negative view of the move, pointing to Wellington’s “special relationship” with the Cook Islands.
The deal with the Cook Islands is part of a widespread campaign by China to attract small but strategic Pacific countries. Beijing signed earlier It signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands in 2022 This shocked Western countries.
Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown said in February that the deal with China was based on the country’s “long-term interests” and tried to assure Australia’s neighbors and New Zealand that they would not replace their “long-term relationship”.
China also says the deals are not to fight against anyone in the region
The deals sparked protests against the largest Rarotonga in the Cook Islands – a vote of Brown without trust in parliament, who eventually survived.
New Zealand has established a “free association” relationship with the Cook Islands and helped the latter in defense and diplomatic affairs. Wellington has provided 194 million new funding to the Cook Islands over the past three years, government data shows.
Chef Islander also holds a New Zealand passport. They have about 15,000 chef islanders in their own country, but as many as 100,000 people live in New Zealand and Australia.
Culturally, the Maori of Cook Island, which accounts for the majority of the population, are also closely related but distinctive to Maori in New Zealand.
These close connections explain why the first deal between the Cooks and China led to such a strong reaction.
But even before that, the Cook Islands have shown signs of wanting to pull away. At the end of last year, it abandoned its proposal to propose its own passport Follow public protests.
