China says a visit by Cook Islands' prime minister isn't meant to antagonize others in South Pacific

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BEIJING (AP) — China insisted on Monday that a visit this week by the prime minister of the Cook Islands to Beijing is not meant to conspire against anyone in the South Pacific, despite the trip stirring up a diplomatic spat between the tiny nation and its chief benefactor, New Zealand.

The visit appears to be part of China's campaign to woo tiny island nations in the South Pacific, where Beijing has been using its economic weight and diplomatic heft in what critics say is a push to reduce the influence of the United States and its allies and give itself access to mineral resources, fisheries and global stature.

“The relationship between China and the Cook Islands is not directed against any third party and should not be subject to or disrupted by any third party,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Monday.

New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters said he had repeated in a phone call to Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown that he should discuss with New Zealand the contents of the so-called Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and other agreements that Brown intends to sign in China

“This lack of consultation is a matter of significant concern to the New Zealand government,” Peters' office said in a statement Sunday.

The Cook Islands, a collection of 15 small islands with a population of 15,000 but a large exclusive economic zone, has been self-governing in free association with New Zealand, its largest source of aid. The almost 60-year-old arrangement allows Cook Islanders to hold New Zealand citizenship and passports and to work and live in New Zealand.

Brown has said that New Zealand has been advised that the deal with China does not touch on security but that New Zealand does not have to review the exact wording of any documents.

He has said his state visit to Beijing, starting this weekend, would focus on renewable energy and agriculture but that it would also touch on maritime issues and shipping and seabed minerals development, areas New Zealand, Australia, the U.S. and others have been particularly concerned about.

The lack of transparency surrounding such agreements has redoubled concerns, particularly since the Solomon Islands switched its alliances from Taiwan to China and struck a secretive security pact that has raised fears of China’s security forces gaining a foothold in the region long dominated by the U.S., Australia and New Zealand.

The security pact has raised concerns of a Chinese naval presence in the region and the basing of ground troops that could challenge other countries’ access to the region that lies close to Australia and over which Japan and the U.S. fought savage battles during World War II.