Summarised by Centrist
On a tightly managed China trip, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon raised concerns about Beijing’s China–Cook Islands deal signed without consultation.
Luxon raised the issue with China’s Premier Li Qiang.
New Zealand sees it as a breach of its 2001 agreement with the Cooks and has frozen $18.2 million in aid. “Engagement in the Pacific must advance Pacific priorities,” Luxon said.
Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown hit back from Parliament, calling New Zealand’s response “patronising” and “inconsistent with modern partnership”. He added that the Cooks’ relationship with New Zealand is “defined by partnership, not paternalism”.
Luxon didn’t reveal whether the topic came up in his closed-door meeting with President Xi Jinping, but the issue was clearly on the table.
The diplomatic handling mirrored warnings from Foreign Minister Winston Peters, who earlier warned the Pacific must “stand together” against external forces attempting to “coerce, cajole and constrain”.
Luxon’s comments shifted tone slightly as he headed to Europe for the NATO summit. There, he appeared to distance himself from the alliance’s increasingly hard line on China.
Asked about NATO chief Mark Rutte’s claim that China, Iran, North Korea and Russia were acting in concert against the West, Luxon said the facts didn’t match the framing.
Calling it a “difference of opinion,” Luxon said: “We haven’t seen evidence of those four powers coordinating actively against the West.”
He added that Rutte’s “Dutch directness” may explain the blunter rhetoric. Luxon’s caution echoed Jacinda Ardern’s 2022 NATO speech, where she also warned against “simplifying” global power dynamics.
Editor’s note: Prime Minister Luxon insists there is “no evidence” of China coordinating with Iran or Russia. But media reports in CNN, The Telegraph, and JNS have already documented military and logistical ties between Beijing, Tehran and Moscow.
