By Lucy Craymer
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – The New Zealand government said it is reviewing its development aid programme with the Pacific nation of Kiribati after the country’s president cancelled a meeting with New Zealand’s foreign minister earlier in January.
Kiribati, a Pacific Ocean neighbour of Hawaii with a vast Exclusive Economic Zone of 3.6 million square kilometres (1.4 million square miles) has developed close ties to Beijing in recent years, including hosting Chinese police.
While New Zealand has been a long-standing development partner, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters has not managed a meeting with Kiribati President Taneti Maamau since returning to office in 2023.
A spokesman for Peters said in an email late on Monday that the foreign minister had planned to travel to Kiribati and meet with its president and Foreign Minister Taneti Maamau earlier this month, but about a week prior to departure had been told Maamau was no longer available to receive him.
“This was especially disappointing because the visit was to be the first in over five years by a New Zealand minister to Kiribati – and was the result of a months-long effort to travel there,” he said.
The lack of political-level contact makes it very difficult for New Zealand and Kiribati to agree on joint priorities for our development programme, and to ensure that it is well targeted and delivers good value for money, the spokesman added.
“For this reason, we are reviewing our development programme in Kiribati. The outcomes of that review will be announced in due course. Other aspects of the bilateral relationship may also be impacted,” the spokesperson said.
This may also impact visa allocations for i-Kiribati, who want to travel to New Zealand to work in seasonal jobs such as fruit picking, he said.
Maamau’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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