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6h ago

New Zealand Pauses NZ$18.2 Million Aid to Cook Islands Over China Pact

The suspension reflects Wellington's insistence on consultation under the free association pact.

A fisherman casts his net into the lagoon on the main island of Rarotonga, in the Pacific Ocean state of the Cook Islands on June 13, 2025.
A view from the ocean of a small town, boats at dock and forest-covered hills.
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Overview

  • New Zealand paused NZ$18.2 million in core sector support in early June after the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive strategic partnership with China in February without informing Wellington.
  • The Cook Islands–China agreement spans deep-sea mining, regional cooperation and education scholarships but excluded security ties and bypassed the free association consultation requirement.
  • Over the past three years New Zealand has provided NZ$194.2 million in development assistance and will not consider significant new funding until trust is rebuilt and the Cook Islands take concrete remedial steps.
  • Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown survived a no-confidence vote in February over the China agreement, blaming Wellington for spreading misinformation and defending the pact’s diversification of partnerships.
  • The aid suspension comes as Prime Minister Christopher Luxon prepares to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in what New Zealand describes as efforts to manage China’s expanding influence in the Pacific.