Stephen Hoadley: Auckland University international relations expert on the Cook Islands-China deal, Donald Trump

There's a hope US President Donald Trump's attention isn't drawn to the Cook Islands-China saga. 

Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown will travel to Beijing in the coming days, where he's expected to sign a comprehensive strategic partnership. 

He says it's about expanding economic opportunities. 

MFAT says it would have expected to be fully consulted on such a deal but wasn't.  

Auckland University international relations expert Stephen Hoadley told Mike Hosking Trump's been taking a hard line with China. 

He says Trump will want his allies to do the same, so New Zealand allowing one of its realm countries to slide into China’s orbit could reflect badly on New Zealand. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So how big a deal is the Cook signing with China.
It's expected to begin died the dial this weekend as
part of the first to have a state visit to Beijing.
And part of the problem seems to be New Zealand's
been out of the loop on all of this. Winston
Peters shortly but the University of Oaklands international relations expert
Stephen Hidley, First, Stephen, morning to you, Urana. Is this
a big win for China?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
It is? Indeed. Yeah. If you're an Australian analyst of geopolitics,
you're going to be very alarmed about this. If you're
an island leader, you're going to say, look, why not
Cook Islands needs the economic resources, it's got brain drain,
it's got an ocean. It should as people have higher expectations.

(00:41):
So there are really several narratives here. And then there's
Winston Peters narrative. You'll remember the Wine Bucks scandal. You're
old enough to remember that. Winston Peters put the hard
word on Cook Islands for dodgy banking practices and almost
money laundering. So Winston Peter has a long history of

(01:01):
irritation with Cook Islands.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
Would astrilily be as upsit with this deal, as we
are upsit with this deal.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Oh yeah, I think so. And we hope this doesn't
attract the attention of Donald Trump. Now, Donald Trump is
taking a hard line to China, and he's going to
want all of his partners and allies to do the same.
And this may reflect badly on New Zealand to allow
it's one of its realm countries to slide over into

(01:29):
the Chinese orbit.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
How I mean you go back to the twenty seventeen
one billion dollars foreign aid and Peters argued, we needed
to be better friends, needed to be more present in
the Pacific. So good on them for doing that. And
yet the chickbook was always going to win. How do
you compete with the Chinese chickbook?

Speaker 2 (01:44):
Well, you can't. Look, it's impossible. You can do the
best you can. You could work with your allies. You're
bringing the Japanese and the Australians and the United States
if possible, into the mix, and hang in there aspecial
you can, and hope the Chinese self destruct. That is,
their economy is not all that strong, and maybe they'll

(02:07):
make mistakes along the way, as they have done with
their road and built initiative, so it's the game isn't lost,
but certainly the current play. The Chinese have moved forward
in not only Holman Islands but also Curebus, also in
Palau and now in Cook Islands.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
Good stuff. Steven appreciate the insights. Steve Hudley, University of Oakland,
International relations expert. I was going to suggest, I mean
to Boli, heure of us is one thing, but the
Cooks is the big prize. Basically, isn't it. For more
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