Winston Peters, left, and Mark Brown. Photo: RNZ/Pacific Islands Forum/123RF
New Zealand needs to ensure it does not become unhinged over the spat with the Cook Islands, says an international relations specialist at Victoria University of Wellington.
China and the Cook Islands are signing what has been dubbed a "comprehensive strategic partnership", with Wellington saying it should have been made aware of the details beforehand.
Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown is promising there is nothing in the agreement that would worry New Zealand, but NZ's Foreign Minister Winston Peters has voiced his anger at not being put in the picture.
RNZ Pacifc spoke to Victoria University of Wellington's Dr Iati Iati about the issues thrown up by this spat.
(The transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.)
Don Wiseman: Is the Cook Islands at fault in not letting the New Zealand government know what was in the deal with China before it signed the deal with China?
Iati Iati: If you weigh both sides of the explanations up, I think the Cook Islands has a better case than us. The agreement really is about consultation, but not about the extent of the consultation. So that's where the gray area is. And obviously Prime Minister Brown had contacted, through a phone call to Winston Peters - from a Cook Islands perspective, that was sufficient.
From New Zealand's perspective, it seems like they want all the cards on the table, which for an independent country like Cook Islands is probably unreasonable. So I think on balance, that Cook Islands probably has a better case.
DW: The realm countries being able to get more involved in their own foreign relations has been something that's been just slowly developing over the last 20 years, in my experience, and it must presumably get to a point where they assume complete control over their foreign relations, they have been encouraged, both Niue and the Cook Islands, to seek donor assistance from other places, including, in the case of the Cook Islands from China, by New Zealand. So what do you make of that?
II: If you go back to the 2001 Joint Centenary Declaration, that's when you kind of see this push or leaning more towards independence really come through from the Cook Islands. They have always had these aspirations, but it was made even more clear in that declaration. From a New Zealand perspective, they were a little bit hesitant, and you can see that in some of the wording in the declaration.
But at the same time, they understood the Cook Islands general push towards independence. Now, from a New Zealand perspective, it is actually quite good for New Zealand if the Cook Islands are able to stand on their own two feet, which is, I think, what Prime Minister Brown is aiming at, because obviously, it would lessen the amount of aid that New Zealand gives, and it would see another quite resilient and developed country in the region that has strong ties to New Zealand, Australia and other donors.
DW: Another aspect to this is that these realm countries, they are New Zealand citizens, but they're not treated equally. If they were New Zealand citizens living in the mainland, they would have access to better services, higher wages, so on and so on. The services provided to the realm countries has been criticized by some over the years for just not being as good as it should be, that New Zealand should have been lifting its game. Do you think that some of this push from the Cook Islands is because of factors like that?
II: I think that's part of the story. But I also think the Cook Islands, as with most Pacific Island countries now, are looking for really long term sustainable development policies. And these interests, from their perspective, can only be served by maximizing the use of their natural resources. And this is why you see the Cook Islands look to open up this new frontier with deep sea minerals. Obviously, we don't have the expertise to do this for the Cooks. If we did, we would have done it by now.
China has the expertise and technology and infrastructure to do this, and hence, the Cook Islands are really just putting two things together - long term development aspirations with a partner that has the capacity to achieve that.
DW: How do you think it's all going to break down in the end, once New Zealand finds out what's in this deal, which we have to presume, given what Mark Brown has said, is not going to be anything terribly controversial. What will happen? Will it be a complete back down by Wellington?
II: Well, Wellington has to revise its assumptions. It always talks about them being part of the Pacific family, there being trust between them and the Pacific Island countries. From the Pacific Island countries perspective, they've always had really good relations with New Zealand.
Of all the Western countries, New Zealand has been seen as the one most closest to the Pacific Island countries. So Wellington really has to put a bit of substance behind this rhetoric of being part of the Pacific family and actually have some trust for what these countries are doing. Most of these countries do not want to cross any red lines in relation to security. And so they understand New Zealand, Australia's security interests, what they're looking for are just better development interests, to further their development interests. And they're not going to ruffle any feathers in Wellington, I think, at the end of all this.
Wellington really needs to just step back, not become so unhinged at the first step, and just apply what they've been saying over the last few years, that there is a partnership between them and the Pacific Island countries. There is this trust and they need to get away from this sort of paternalistic modus operandi in the Pacific.
