WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand has halted millions of dollars in funding to the Cook Islands over the “breadth and content” of agreements the smaller Pacific nation made with China, officials from the New Zealand Foreign Minister’s office said Thursday. New Zealand, which is the smaller Pacific nation’s biggest funder, won’t consider any…
By Christine Chen Cook Islands PM survives no-confidence vote over China pact Feb 26 – Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown survived on Wednesday a vote of no confidence in parliament brought by the opposition over deals he struck with China that strained relations with New Zealand. Members of parliament voted 13-9 to defeat the…
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The South Pacific country of Cook Islands on Tuesday unveiled the details of a deal with China to boost cooperation on matters including mining seabed minerals, after the pact provoked a rare diplomatic clash with the nation’s chief benefactor, New Zealand, and protests at home. The public quarrel between New…
SYDNEY (Reuters) -The Cook Islands said on Saturday that it signed a comprehensive strategic partnership deal with China, a move expected to raise concerns in New Zealand with which it has constitutional ties. Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown and Chinese Premier Li Qiang signed the deal in Harbin, the capital of northeast China’s Heilongjiang…