Beijing Grants Cook Islands $4 Million Under ‘Strategic Partnership’, but Further Details Scarce

Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Stephen Brown delivers a statement during the high level segment on day three of the UNFCCC COP29 Climate Conference at Baku, Azerbaijan on Nov. 13, 2024. Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown has returned from a state visit to Beijing and revealed the details of a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” between the communist regime and his country.

Brown told reporters waiting at the airport that the Cook Islands would receive an initial $4 million one-off payment for “future projects,” but indicated there were “no projects we’ve signed up to at this stage.”

“In the coming months, in the coming years, there may be some projects that they can formalise,” the prime minister said.

While the sum is trifling to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), for the Pacific nation, with a population of around 15,000, it represents 1.29 percent of its GDP. The World Bank places the value of the Cooks’ exports at $US3 million, though most of its foreign exchange is earned through tourism.

“Our ministries will be looking carefully at where they would look to allocate that funding as part of projects or initiatives that we might want to promote. And at this stage, it’s looking like primarily in the area of renewable energies,” Brown said.

As reported last week by The Epoch Times, the CCP has its eyes on the Penrhyn Basin, which is believed to contain one of the largest deposits of cobalt, titanium, tellurium, niobium, and rare earth elements like yttrium and is one of only three such locations in the world. Those rare earth minerals are critical to battery technology.

The Island of Rarotonga, the largest island in the Cook Islands is viewed from the air on Aug. 30, 2012. Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images

Most of the Basin lies within the Cook Islands’ 2 million square kilometre exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The United States, keen to end its reliance on China for battery metals, is backing American undersea mining companies to find and extract them (pdf).

Brown met with CCP Premier Li Qiang, which he described as the “pinnacle” of his visit.

“The Action Plan for Comprehensive Strategic Partnership 2025-2030 establishes a structured framework for engagement between the Cook Islands and the Peoples Republic of China in a number of priority areas including trade and investment, tourism, ocean science, aquaculture, agriculture, infrastructure including transport, climate resilience, disaster preparedness, creative industries, technology and innovation, education and scholarships, and people-to-people exchanges,” he said in a statement.

However, aside from the $4 million grant, he has yet to clarify what else Beijing has offered and, crucially, what the Cooks has offered up in return.

Further, New Zealand Pacific reporter Barbara Dreaver was not allowed in the room where Brown met the media upon his return.

New Zealand Foreign Affairs Will Examine Details

A spokesperson for New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said the NZ government was aware of the $4 million contract and “will now proceed to analyse [its] contents and its implications for New Zealand, the Cook Islands people and the Realm of New Zealand. We intend to engage with the Cook Islands government on that in the days ahead.

“We note, from various public statements by the Governments of the Cook Islands and China, that they signed a number of agreements last week,” Peters’ told The Epoch Times.

“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.”

New Zealand's Foreign Minister Winston Peters (top C), with Cook Islands' Prime Minister Mark Brown (lower L). Also in the photo are Samoa's Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa (lower C) and Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape (lower R). They are pictured at the Pacific Islands Forum in Nuku'alofa on August 26, 2024. Photo by Mary Lyn FONUA / AFP

Wellington has not seen any of the agreements Brown signed during his trip, even though it asked to review them before he left.

The details will be “out online very shortly, people can see for themselves,” Brown told the Cook Islands News.

In his statement, Brown said the Cook Islands’ relationship with China “complements, not replaces, our longstanding relationships with New Zealand and our various other bilateral, regional and multilateral partners—in the same way that China, New Zealand and all other states cultivate relations with a wide range of partners.

“China has been steadfast in its support and contributions to the Cook Islands development priorities for 28 years,” he said.

“It has been respectful of Cook Islands sovereignty and supportive of our sustained and concerted efforts to secure economic resilience for our people amidst our various vulnerabilities and the many global challenges of our time, including climate change and access to development finance.”

But Brown’s approach to the deals, and particularly his lack of both internal and external consultation, has upset some in the Cooks.

Opposition parties on Feb. 18 protested the deal, with more than 400 people gathered outside the parliament in the capital city of Avarua, with some holding signs saying, “Stay connected with New Zealand.”

“We have no problem with our government going and seeking assistance,” Opposition Leader Tina Browne said. “We do have a problem when it is risking our sovereignty, risking our relationship with New Zealand.”

A motion of no confidence has been filed against Brown and his Cabinet, but there will be a delay in hearing it because of parliamentary procedure.