By Christine Chen
(Reuters) – New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said on Wednesday his country must “reset” its relationship with the Cook Islands government after its Pacific neighbour signed agreements with China without consultation.
In a speech to the Pacific Island Political Science Association in Wellington, Peters said Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown’s opaque dealings with Beijing was the latest attempt to test constitutional ties with New Zealand.
“While the connection between the people of the Cook Islands and New Zealand remains resolutely strong, we currently face challenges in the government-to-government relationship,” he said.
“We are going to need to reset the government-to-government relationship.”
The Cook Islands is a self-governing nation and maintains free association with Wellington, sharing a head of state and citizenship rights. It is permitted an independent foreign policy, but the two countries are required to consult on security, defence and foreign policy issues.
Brown’s visit to Beijing this month resulted in a strategic partnership with China spanning education, the economy, infrastructure, fisheries, disaster management and seabed mining.
It set off alarm bells in New Zealand due to concerns with China’s growing presence in the region and the potential threats to the country’s national security.
While the Cook Islands government has released details of the strategic partnership, Peters said New Zealand had not seen a number of memoranda of understanding also signed with China.
“New Zealand and the Cook Islands people remain, as of this evening, in the dark over all but one the agreements signed by China and the Cooks last week,” Peters said.
Brown’s deal with China follows an attempt by the Cooks to create its own passports and citizenship, a proposal New Zealand said would require the islands to become fully independent to do.
Separately, Peters also addressed tensions with Kiribati after its government cancelled a planned visit by New Zealand officials at short notice.
Kiribati has also signed a series of bilateral deals with China in recent years.
Peters said Wellington had committed more than NZ$100 million ($57 million) in aid to the Pacific island nation over the past three years and needed to reassess how funds were being used.
($1 = 1.7498 New Zealand dollars)
(Reporting by Christine Chen in Sydney; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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