Stephen Hoadley: International relations expert on ongoing trade issues with Cook Islands

Trade talks with the Cook Islands have reached a standstill once again.

The Government has been suspended payments to the Cook Islands after they made deals with China without notifying NZ - a move that broke the 2021 agreement. 

However, International relations expert Stephen Hoadley said that suspending payments will only move them closer to China. 

"I think it just opens the door for China to walk in further and have more influence."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Still got trouble the Cooks. Quickly we're pushing more ride
or pausing more ride. Talks broke down again. This is
all I have a China. Of course, we paused eighteen
million back in June. Now another parliament's been suspended, so
we're up to thirty million. That's not going their way.
Steve Hoodley, international relations expert with a Steve Morning.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Good morning mate.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
How much of this is Mark Brown versus just the
Cooks generally?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Well, you wonder is it personality because Winston Peters has
a long history of agitation with the Cook Islands, going
way back to the wine box scandal now when you
and I were just youths, and it's still going on
through it the present day. But I think there's a
serious diplomatic issue here. Cook Islands has broken the protocol,
has violated the twenty twenty one agreement, has embarrassed New

(00:46):
Zealand by going and sunning these agreements with China and
not informing us. So I think Cook Islands are in
the wrong here.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
And nobody disagrees with that. I don't think do they.
So basically is we wait for them to acquiesce or not,
and that's where it sits is.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
They're not going to acquays, They're going to turn to China.
They're going to float a thirty million dollar loan from
China's Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and go further into debt
to China and slip. Cook Islands is going to slip
away from New Zealand's influence And.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
Is that isolated to the Cooks or does that then
become a problem in the Pacific generally?

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Well? Is the same thing is happening in Solomon Island's
Visa VI Australia, same things happening in Palau the United States.
Neither of those two countries have suspended AID. New Zealand
is the only one to suspend AID, which I think
just opens the door for China to walk in further
and have more influence. So I'm not sure this is

(01:44):
a great idea.

Speaker 1 (01:45):
All right, might must catch up for shut Sleep Hardley
International Relationships. But for more from the Mic Hosking Breakfast,
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