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Maria Siow

Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown’s securing of another term, despite a dispute with New Zealand over his government’s deals with China, suggests voters are more focused on the cost of living than geopolitical concerns, analysts have said.
Brown’s Cook Islands Party is on track to win a fifth consecutive term in government after securing 18 seats – up from its previous 12 – in last week’s election, according to preliminary results.
That gives the party a three-quarter supermajority in the country’s 24-member parliament, with the support of three independent MPs.
The election result carries weight beyond the self-governing Polynesian nation, whose people hold New Zealand citizenship and whose economy relies heavily on tourism, imported fuel and development funding.
Given New Zealand’s long-standing role in its defence and external affairs, the biggest issues going into the poll were the Cook Islands’ decision to deepen ties with China, as well as questions about whether Brown’s government had done enough to consult Wellington on deals covering infrastructure, tourism and seabed mineral research.

A defence and security declaration signed with New Zealand in April appeared to help ease those concerns, analysts said, allowing Brown to limit the political damage before last Wednesday’s election.
“Today my heart is full of gratitude. Thank you to everyone who came out and voted, for taking part and making your voice heard. This is what makes our country strong,” he posted on social media on Friday.
Ahead of the ballot, local media reported that inflation and the cost of living were voters’ main concerns. The Iran war has also raised anxieties throughout the South Pacific as small island nations are heavily dependent on imported products, including diesel for power generation.
Brown’s opponents had hoped dissatisfaction about the price of goods, water, electricity and transport would sway voters. However, the Cook Islands United Party, which split from Brown’s in 2018, won just four seats, up from three in 2022.
China deals
A pressure point for Brown was the signing of infrastructure, tourism and seabed mineral research deals without consulting Wellington. The Cook Islands is in free association with New Zealand, giving Wellington responsibilities over its defence and foreign affairs while Cook Islanders automatically hold New Zealand citizenship.
The agreements also prompted Western allies, including the US, to question the implications of Beijing’s expanding role in the Pacific.
To resolve their dispute, Wellington and Avarua signed the April declaration, which reaffirmed New Zealand as the Cook Islands’ primary security partner and clarified consultation expectations. The move restored roughly NZ$29.8 million (US$17.5 million) in paused annual aid funding to the island nation.
Sione Tekiteki, a senior lecturer at the Auckland University of Technology, said the public did not care as much about the China deals as some earlier reporting had suggested.
“Politically, it was an issue, but it became significant locally not necessarily because of the agreement itself, but because New Zealand reacted strongly to it by publicly raising concerns and withholding aid,” he said.


Last February, Brown survived a vote of no confidence brought against his government by the opposition due to public protests and political backlash over the Chinese deal. Those were driven more by a concern among the local population about what they might lose, Tekiteki said, as questions around citizenship were also raised as part of the debate.
After the signing of the agreement with New Zealand in April, Tekiteki said “the China issue” did not appear to have a significant effect on the election outcome.
“What the Cook Islands was seeking was an expansion and diversification of its economic partnerships, and perhaps without due regard to the likely political risks, not the replacement of its closest strategic and constitutional partner with another,” he said.
Balaji Chandramohan, a research scholar at the University of Madras whose research includes the Pacific region, said the recent election underlined the complex issues faced by the island nation domestically and externally.
And while cost of living issues mattered, Brown’s “rollback” worked in his favour, Chandramohan said, adding that reciprocal visits by Brown and New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters in March and April “soothed strained relations” and “reaffirmed Polynesian brotherhood ties” between the two countries.
Pressure on Pacific islands
China’s wooing of Brown is just part of its strategy for the region. On Tuesday, it urged the 18-member Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) to “abide by the one-China principle” and “properly handle Taiwan-related issues” after Secretary General Baron Waqa said a Taiwanese delegation would attend an annual summit in Palau later this month.
Beijing, which sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary, opposes the self-governed island’s participation in international organisations and exchanges with other countries.
Any diplomatic relation with Beijing would be fundamentally “country driven”, Tekiteki said.
Of the 18 PIF members, only three currently maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan: the Marshall Islands, Palau and Tuvalu. Nauru, Kiribati and Solomon Islands have all switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing since 2019.

As sovereign countries, all members were entitled to make their own diplomatic choices, Chandramohan said. “Countries were courted by China for security treaties, but many decided to stay away from that,” he said, adding that these countries were also affirming their ties with Taipei.
In 2022, China tried to sign a sweeping, region-wide trade and security pact covering police training, cybersecurity, marine mapping with 10 Pacific island nations, but regional leaders declined the deal.
Some leaders, including the president of the Federated States of Micronesia, openly warned that the pact could force the region into a new Cold War and compromise regional security. Others said their primary security threats and concerns related to climate change and economic development rather than military alignments.


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The result shows that local voters are not as concerned about geopolitical issues as claimed in earlier reports, analysts say


The result shows that local voters are not as concerned about geopolitical issues as claimed in earlier reports, analysts say.


Cook Islands PM re-elected despite row over China ties with New Zealand

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The result shows that local voters are not as concerned about geopolitical issues as claimed in earlier reports, analysts say

The result shows that local voters are not as concerned about geopolitical issues as claimed in earlier reports, analysts say