Early Details of CCP–Cook Islands Partnership Suggest Push for Undersea Critical Mineral Research

While details of the deal are still unknown—even to Cook Islands MPs—social media posts from the country’s prime minister have hinted at some of its content.

The Northern side of the Island of Rarotonga, the largest island in the Cook Islands, on Aug. 30, 2012. The Cook Islands are one of the places that offshore companies have been established and used by Chinese elite to shield their wealth, much of it ill-gotten, according to a journalism group. Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images

Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown is in China, meeting with senior CCP officials and is dropping hints about the impending “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.”

New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters has called for more details. The Cook Island’s are part of the “realm of New Zealand”—countries which are, in theory, independent but whose citizens carry New Zealand passports.