Now the scale of what the Cook Islands has secretly signed with China is clear, NZ has every right to be furious at the Cook Islands treason.
The deal is far worse than we feared.
It is an immediate green light to China building a Port and that has always been the main danger because let’s be as clear as we can, if China gains a Port in the Cook Islands, they will immediately flood it with their Chinese fishing militia and they will start actively plundering New Zealand’s fishing stock.
Those of you screaming colonialism at those criticising the Cooks for their treason better save their breath because if you are furious at NZs ‘colonialism’, you are going to have plenty to say about China plundering our fisheries, or is it only environmental vandalism when white people do it?
Really?
We don’t even need to get to the point of fearing a military Port because just their fishing power is an enormous threat in of itself!
This is a direct encroachment by China into our Realm while they have sent Chinese Gunboat diplomacy to test live fire weapons in the bloody Tasman Sea.
Pretending China is somehow benign is just the most inane position to take here.
We don’t want NZ to be run by America OR China!
What the Cooks have done here can not stand.
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Yes the Chinese fishing fleet is in excess of 5000 ships all of which are dual purpose and can be used as military transports.
cific our fishing stocks will be screwed in next to no time. Most of those 5,000 ships are parked up in Chinese ports .
That Chinese fishing fleet will deplete our fishing stocks in no time and Pacific fishing will be screwed in next to no time. Most of the Chinese 5,000 fishing factory ships are parked up in Chinese ports . They are also dual purpose military transports ships.
But but but the big Matua Shane Jones king of the fisheries and master of even Neptune himself will surely have all this sorted, won’t he?
America or China is the only option we have. We can’t afford to defend our independence.
America thanks no contest.
James Brown February 24, 2025 At 12:17 pm
America thanks no contest.
Are you mad?
A country inciting ethnic cleansing in Gaza?
A country threatening military takeover of Greenland and Panama?
A country that wants to hand large parts of Ukraine’s grain producing region to Russia, while seizing Ukraine’s mineral resources for itself?
A country plunging the world into trade wars and recession?
A country run by a tyrant who calls himself “King” and who incited a violent insurrection against the democratically elected government in his own country?
China or USA?
Yeah, Nah.
There is a third option for people who aren’t insane.
The law of neutrality refers to a number of international treaties that were first codified at the Second Hague Peace Conference on October 18, 1907
Convention (V) Respecting the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers in Case of War on Land.
https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/hague-conv-iv-1907
Convention (XIII) Concerning the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers in Naval War.
Responding to changing technology, the international law of neutrality was updated in 1923 in Articles 39 to 48 of the 1923 Hague Rules of Air Warfare, and updated again in 2009 on International Law Applicable to Air and Missile Warfare.
Who do you expect would enforce such international treaties if China decides not to recognise them?
International treaties mean little when they aren’t backed up.
Bringing the validity of your third option into question.
“International treaties mean little when they aren’t backed up.” The Chairman.
Agreed. We would need the backing of the UN.
To get UN backing of our neutral status we would have to demonstrate that we have severed all military and intelligence links and entanglements with all foreign powers.
You might say, but China or the US, or Russia or Indonesia or India, or anyone who might want to attack us for whatever reason, in spite our UN ratified neutral status, could just pull out of the UN. I suppose its possible. But it’s a big move, hardly worth the diplomatic and political blowback.
If we declared ourselves to be a neutral country, instead of a target,. Who would attack us?
The Chinese? The Americans?
It is not in their interests.
Especially if our neutral status was officially recognised by a majority vote in the United Nations General Assembly, by all 193 member countries.
It is not in China or America’s interests to attack a small insignificant neutral country at the bottom of the world. Both America and China are claiming to be the white hats, fighting a lawless empire, neither want to appear before the world and especially their own people as the black hats. It would destroy their narrative. So not worth it.
Neutrality works for Switzerland.
Let the buggers fight it out. Kiwis need to secure our neighbourhood first. NZ is tiny but can fight in other ways rather than it’s embarrsingly “mighty” show of force by driving a seagull engine dinghy through the Taiwan strait
The Chairman February 24, 2025 At 12:06 pm
America or China is the only option we have…..
To which I say, ‘Total absolute fucking Bullshit’
Binary partisan pro-US, or pro-China supporters would want you to believe this bullshit, because each want all nations to take sides. Each want as many nations on their side as possible because it makes war easier to conduct.
War between these two rival superpowers is inevitable.
We can’t stop it. Best we can stay out of it.
If we want to stay out it, we must declare ourselves a neutral country, like Switzerland and Ireland did during WWII, And demonstrate it, by cutting all military and intelligence arrangements with the US and the Western alliance, and then officially ratify our neutral status with the UN.
We invite the Cooks to join us, which they would need to demonstrate, by cutting all their arrangements with China.
If the Cooks decide that neutrality is not for them, and that they want their country be a hotspot for US and China rivalry, and surround their country with Chinese and US warships and submarines. That’s their choice.
Neutrality
https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/politik-geschichte/die-schweiz-und-die-welt/neutralitaet.html
Neutrality is a cornerstone of Swiss foreign policy and prohibits Switzerland from participating in armed conflicts and joining military alliances. The international community officially recognised Switzerland’s neutrality in 1815…..
…..As a neutral state, Switzerland does not take part in external armed conflicts, provides no armed assistance, and is not a member of any military alliances. In 1907 Switzerland formalised this position with the signing of the Hague Convention governing the rights and obligations of neutral states in the event of war….
…..Neutrality is deeply engrained in Switzerland’s collective psyche and enjoys wide popular support. It has secured internal cohesion, particularly between the different language and religious communities, and is an advantage for Switzerland when offering its good offices.
New Zealand Switzerland of the South Seas
The Chairman February 24, 2025 At 12:06 pm
America or China is the only option we have…..
To which I reply, ‘Total Bullshit’
Binary partisan pro-US, or pro-China supporters would have you believe this bullshit, because each want all nations to take part in their coming war. Both the US and China want as many nations on their side as possible because it makes war easier to conduct.
War between these two rival superpowers is inevitable.
Anyone who says it isn’t doesn’t understand the political and economic pressures that drive imperialism to war.
We can’t stop it. The best we can do, is stay out of it.
If we want to stay out it, we must declare ourselves a neutral country, like Switzerland and Ireland did during WWII, And demonstrate it, by cutting all military and intelligence arrangements with the US and the Western alliance, and then officially ratify our neutral status with the UN.
We invite the Cooks to join us. If the Cools want to join us in becoming a neutral country, they would need to demonstrate, by cutting all their arrangements with China.
If the Cooks decide that neutrality is not for them, and that they want their country be a hotspot for US and China rivalry, and surround their island nation with Chinese and US warships and submarines. That’s their choice.
Neutrality
https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/politik-geschichte/die-schweiz-und-die-welt/neutralitaet.html
…Neutrality is a cornerstone of Swiss foreign policy and prohibits Switzerland from participating in armed conflicts and joining military alliances. The international community officially recognised Switzerland’s neutrality in 1815…..
…..As a neutral state, Switzerland does not take part in external armed conflicts, provides no armed assistance, and is not a member of any military alliances. In 1907 Switzerland formalised this position with the signing of the Hague Convention governing the rights and obligations of neutral states in the event of war….
…..Neutrality is deeply engrained in Switzerland’s collective psyche and enjoys wide popular support. It has secured internal cohesion, particularly between the different language and religious communities, and is an advantage for Switzerland when offering its good offices.
New Zealand Switzerland of the South Seas.
Who knows. The idea might catch on.
The alternative is throwing our young people into the coming meatgrinder.
NZ needs to get its shit together .The Pacific is falling a part with issues in Kirati,Samoa ,and the Cook Islands .Then FIJI and Tonga are wracked with Meth abuse .We have been asleep at the wheel and now China with its soft aid packages will be in charge in no time .Instead of spending $4 billion on weapons we should be spending it on aid in these nations .Im sure tonga and fiji would wellcome help with cleaning up the drug trade which in turn would help NZ we could be building ports and such in those other places .I was going to suggest we could be helping them buy ferries but look at this government track record on that so that might be a stretch too far as might be the case with building ports as well .Is it no wonder they are looking to China and not NZ .
Mahuta was asleep at the wheel.
Well Said Gordon
Agree 100% Gordon. NZ has failed the Pacific nations and now all hell is about to break loose. Cook Islanders are not happy about the agreements their PM has done, and no doubt they don’t want the Chinese fisheries pillaging their seas either.
Why are we not rescinding all aid / their access to NZ citizenship etc?
“We don’t want NZ to be run by America OR China!”
Is there any dispute that New Zealand is presently a vassal state of the US?
Then there is a sequence to follow.
First, stand up to Donald Trump’s America.
Then you can say to China “You have seen us secure our independence from the Five Eyes. You have seen us establish our mana motuhake. You have seen the end of colonialism in this motu. Take note, because we did not do these things to open the way for a new imperial overlord”.
As it is, the cry against China’s supposed imperial ambitions comes from those who are totally in thrall to US imperialism. Most of them don’t even pretend otherwise. Liam Hehir on RNZ this morning had the audacity to argue that we should submit to the US because otherwise Trump might “play rough”.
The colonialist regime comprises cowards and idiots. The cowardice is obvious. The idiocy will become more apparent over time.
Liam Hehir is an insignificant squeak like most commentators on RNZ these days since Kim Hill left. Kathryn Ryan just loves to pontificate and listen to the sound of her own voice. The moaning retort team are just as impotent.
I thought we were already run by America? We have had minimal obligations under AUKUS and 5 eyes but looking at what Australia is having to do, it won’t be long before a US naval/submarine base in Whangarei will be demanded. The debate about moving the Port of Auckland has surprisingly gone very quiet under the very government and council from whom you would expect action on the matter. The time to chose between China or the US is rapidly approaching and if the useless CEO choses US it’ll be goodbye to our biggest dairy market.
Eh! half awake.
Former aussie P.M Paul Keating has got the best handle on the so called Chinese….’threat’.There isn’t ..one.
‘The Cooks are showing us how to do it. Build a big port to sell minerals, coal, gas and oil’ Krautet Haus.
wipe the spittle and foam from your keyboard and think for a minute.
Where are all these minerals going to come from?
The Cook Islands are mainly coral atolls. Like most other Pacific Islands they have few exploitable resources.
They also have only a few sites they can use for a deepwater port. Horticulture and seafood are about all they have to export.
If you paid attention to your geography lessons at school you would know lack of ports, distance from markets and few resources is why the Pacific Islands export people rather than goods.
A refuel point for Chinese Fishers and navy – yes. A large export port – what is there to export?
You can have all the money in the world but if the country is polluted and with mass disease so that there is no quality of life it is a hollow victory. While those causing the pollution will be able to afford somewhere safe to live most of the population will not have that option.
You are obviously ignorant of NZ exports anyway as a few coal trains a day go to Lyttleton, gold mining at various locations around the country and ironsand are all big industries.
People would be able to make sandwiches for their kids school lunch if they didn’t both have to work to afford a house and had some spare money left over after paying expenses.
A Chinese military base in the Cook Islands would be fantastic. The US bases in New Zealand and Australia are a big threat to New Zealanders. Hopefully the Chinese can take them out before they attack us.
Can you be there at ground zero to make sure the Chinese missiles hit their target? You could hold up a big sign with an X on it
Sorry – he’s booked to go back to Afghanistan or Gaza or some other shithole the coward ran away from. He’s just a disease.
The Cooks have found the West wanting. no surprises there. The yanks are too busy navel gazing to bother with naval gazing. the Chinese will be processing manganese nodules in no time and the Cooks will be telling everyone to get lost with a shiny new port, mining royalties and money in the bank. They won’t have to grovel to Aussies and Kiwis to come and use their Islands as a toilet anymore – that’s for sure.
A must read background to the Cook Islands fracas from Steve Ratuva on E-tangata
https://e-tangata.co.nz/comment-and-analysis/delinquent-juvenile-or-neocolonial-paternalism/
It’s all about money and I understand that, indeed agree.
Swedes come to mind, albeit I’m more inclined to Bluff Oysters, not too fussed about Mutton Birds , crayfish and paua a must.
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