The Cook Islands said on Saturday that it and China have reached a five-year agreement to work together on the exploration and study of the Pacific nation’s natural resources beneath the surface.
Working together on the “exploration and research of seabed mineral resources” is covered under the agreement, according to a copy that is likely to annoy close partner and former colonial ruler New Zealand.
According to the Cook Islands administration, there was no agreement to grant an exploration or mining license as part of the memorandum of understanding with China.
Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown said the deal supported a broader partnership pact he signed on a state visit to China this month for the two countries to cooperate in trade, investment and the seabed minerals sector.
“Our seabed minerals section remains under strict regulatory oversight, ensuring that all decisions are made transparently and in the best interest of the Cook Islands and its people,” he said in a statement.
New Zealand has already accused the Cook Islands government of a lack of consultation and transparency over the wider partnership agreement with China.
The 17,000-person self-governing Cook Islands have a “free association” connection with New Zealand, which includes defense, foreign policy, and budgetary support.
Citizens of Cook Island are citizens of New Zealand.
Three businesses have been granted licenses by the Cook Islands to search the seafloor for nodules that contain metals like nickel and cobalt, which are utilized in batteries for electric vehicles.
The Cook Islands government says it will not determine whether to harvest the potato-sized nodules until it has evaluated the environmental and other implications, even though it issued the five-year exploration permits in 2022.
The prime minister of the Pacific nation has, however, praised the prospective multibillion-dollar business, stating that the Cook Islands must safeguard itself from climate change “through whatever revenues that we can get.”
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