New Zealand signs Cook Islands agreement to counter China deal

WELLINGTON – New Zealand has signed a defence and security declaration with the Cook Islands, repairing a relationship strained when the tiny South Pacific nation entered a strategic agreement with China.

The declaration was signed on April 2 in the Cook Islands capital of Rarotonga during a visit from New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters. It also means New Zealand will resume development funding, which was paused in June 2025 when the Chinese deal was revealed.

“The declaration is about setting a course together for the future,” Mr Peters said in a statement.

“Now that we have come to a mutually satisfactory understanding of the underpinnings of our partnership, we are pleased to normalise all aspects of our relationship – including New Zealand’s financial support.”

While the Cook Islands is a self-governing state, it is part of the realm of New Zealand and has a special constitutional relationship with Wellington, its primary development partner.

However, a strategic partnership agreement signed with Beijing in February 2025 caused that relationship to fray.

The declaration states that New Zealand is committed to remaining the primary defence and security partner of the Cook Islands, and in keeping with those responsibilities, New Zealand commits to an uplift in defence engagement with the Cook Islands.

China has been expanding its connections and strategic ambitions in the South Pacific, and Mr Peters has previously said New Zealand is seriously concerned by Beijing’s increased role in the security arrangements of several island nations.

“The strategic environment we face is more complex and contested than at any other point since New Zealand and the Cook Islands formed our free association agreement in 1965,” Mr Peters said on April 2.

“It’s vital that New Zealand and the Cook Islands are clear with one another and third parties about the nature of our special relationship.” Bloomberg