{"id":359588,"date":"2026-04-02T02:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T02:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/359588\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T02:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T02:40:08","slug":"new-zealand-signs-defence-pact-with-cook-islands-after-quarrel-over-china-deal-new-zealand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/359588\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand signs defence pact with Cook Islands after quarrel over China deal | New Zealand"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Zealand and the Cook Islands have signed a defence and security declaration, ending a year-long diplomatic row that erupted after the Cook Islands<\/a> struck strategic agreements with China.<\/p>\n

The Cook Islands was a dependent New Zealand colony from 1901-65 but has since operated as a self-governing nation in \u201cfree association\u201d with New Zealand. Its roughly 17,000 citizens hold New Zealand citizenship. There are obligations between the two nations<\/a> to regularly consult on matters of defence and security.<\/p>\n

In February 2025, New Zealand expressed \u201csignificant concern\u201d<\/a> about a lack of transparency over the Cook Islands\u2019 decision to sign a strategic partnership deal with China<\/a> covering deep-sea mining, regional cooperation and economic issues.<\/p>\n

It marked the first time the Cook Islands had struck a major deal with a country outside its traditional partners \u2013 New Zealand<\/a> and Australia \u2013 causing concern within those countries over China\u2019s push for influence in the Pacific.<\/p>\n

New Zealand, the Cook Islands\u2019 biggest funder, responded by halting millions of dollars in aid<\/a> to the nation, which the Cook Islands\u2019 prime minister, Mark Brown, described as \u201cpatronising\u201d and \u201cinconsistent with modern partnership\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, relations between the two nations improved, after the signing of declaration that requires both parties to act in good faith and consult on matters of defence and security.<\/p>\n

New Zealand\u2019s foreign affairs minister, Winston Peters<\/a>, said it was no secret the two governments had faced a series of \u201cserious disagreements\u201d since late 2024, but the declaration was about \u201csetting a course together for the future\u201d and providing clarity over the relationship.<\/p>\n

Peters said: \u201cThe strategic environment we face is more complex and contested today than at any other point since New Zealand and the Cook Islands<\/a> formed our free association relationship in 1965.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn that context, it\u2019s vital that New Zealand<\/a> and the Cook Islands are clear \u2013 with one another and third parties \u2013 about the nature of our special relationship and our responsibilities to one another in the defence and security domains.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Zealand would resume roughly NZ$29.8m ($17.1m) in annual funding support, he said.<\/p>\n

Peters added: \u201cWe are pleased to now have a shared certainty about the contours of that relationship, and we are grateful to prime minister Brown and his government for the constructive way they approached the negotiation of this declaration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown said the agreement was about \u201cmoving forward\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThis declaration is about security and defence across our region, and I\u2019m confident that the provisions we have in this declaration will address any concerns that may have occurred in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown said the defence pact with New Zealand would not affect the Cook Islands\u2019 deal with China<\/a>, but Peters said that deal was no longer a concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis declaration resolves this former ambiguity and provides clarity to both governments so that we can move forward focused on the future, not the past,\u201d Peters said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf anyone understands the Polynesian society, cousins fall out now and again \u2026 our job is getting it back.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Zealand and the Cook Islands have signed a defence and security declaration, ending a year-long diplomatic row…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359589,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111,43,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-359588","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}