Cook Islands Government Releases Details Of Deal With China

Tuesday, 18 February 2025, 9:46 pm
Article: RNZ

Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific Editor

The Cook Islands government has released the text of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreement that it has signed with Beijing.

Cooperation on seabed mining, the establishment of diplomatic missions and preferential treatment in regional and multi-lateral forums were some of the standouts in the agreement.

The Cook Islands government released the text on Tuesday afternoon and said it set out a structured framework for the next five years of engagement between the two countries.

The priority areas included in the six-page document include economic resilience, environment, cultural exchanges, social well-being, regional cooperation and multi-lateral cooperation.

Under the economic cooperation heading it notes seabed mining was a national priority for the Cook Islands and said "We will explore areas for further cooperation within the seabed minerals sector..."

The agreement named the two countries missions in Wellington as the facilitators of communication, support and cooperation for the bilateral relationship and said, "We will explore the establishment of diplomatic and consular institutions in each country..."

But some of the most interesting clauses by far come under the regional and multi-lateral cooperation headings.

Some of these include a section about preliminary briefings before regional meetings:

"We will engage in advance discussions prior to the Cook Islands' hosting of any regional meetings that China ordinarily attends in any capacity (such as the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders' Meeting) to identify ways in which we can support each other as both hosts and participants to advance our collective regional interests.

One clause under multilateral cooperation said given China's "strong presence" in multilateral forums, it would support the Cook Islands' aspirations to expand its membership of international organisations.

The document which the Cook Islands Government released to the parliament was an unsigned copy.

New Zealand's response

A spokesperson for NZ Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said the government will now analyse the agreement with China.

They said Peters intended to engage with the Cook Islands government on this "in the days ahead".

He has also pointed to public statements by both the Cook Islands and Chinese governments that "a number of agreements" were signed during Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown's week-long state visit last week.

"We look forward to the release of all those agreements without delay, so that the Cook Islands people and New Zealand can get clarity on the substance and scope of the intended cooperation between China and the Cooks. Consultation and transparency must lie at the heart of the New Zealand-Cook Islands relationship."

Earlier today, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer joined more than 400 people in Rarotonga to protest against Brown's government.

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