Summarised by Centrist
The government is raising the alarm over Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown’s plans to sign agreements with China—without consulting Wellington.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said New Zealand repeatedly requested details on the proposed Comprehensive Strategic Partnership but received no response before Brown departed for China.
“The time for consultation has now passed,” a spokesperson for Peters said, calling the lack of transparency a “significant concern.”
The Cook Islands, which operates in free association with New Zealand, typically consults on foreign affairs, defence, and security matters.
Brown brushed off New Zealand’s demands for greater oversight, arguing the Cook Islands is not required to consult at the level Wellington expects.
“There is no need for New Zealand to sit in the room with us,” he said. Brown added that New Zealand never sought Cook Islands’ input when it signed its deal with China.
Brown insisted there would be “no surprises” and dismissed security concerns while confirming the agreement included deep-sea mining research and funding for a new inter-island vessel. Peters, however, said New Zealand and the Cook Islands are “not seeing eye to eye” on key issues.
This dispute follows tensions over Brown’s scrapped Cook Islands passport plan to issue a national passport that would identify holders as Cook Islanders, but without serving as a travel document. There were also concerns about a Cook Islands-flagged Russian oil tanker seized in Europe for suspected sanctions evasion, drawing scrutiny to the nation’s shipping registry.
Read more over at The NZ Herald and RNZ
