Beijing Set to Strike ‘Comprehensive’ Deal with Pacific Nation

The new deal could breach longstanding agreements with New Zealand, which provides the majority of aid to the Cook Islands, and will no doubt concern the US.

Cook Islands' Foreign Minister Mark Stephen Brown speaks before a signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Pacific Island Forum, and the Indian Ocean RIM Association during an ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sept. 4, 2023. BAY ISMOYO/AFP via Getty Images

A closer-than-expected relationship between the Cook Islands and Beijing has been suddenly revealed by an announcement that its Prime Minister Mark Brown is to make a state visit to China—reportedly as soon as Feb. 7—where he will sign what his government is describing as a “comprehensive statement of partnership” with the communist regime.

The relationship between the Cook Islands and New Zealand is complex.