Foreign Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand isn’t getting the “reciprocal reaction we expect” from Kiribati as the two nations’ relationship hits rock bottom.
1News revealed yesterday that New Zealand’s entire aid programme to Kiribati was put on hold while it’s reviewed because of a lack of “open dialogue” from the small country.
The move came after Kiribati President Taneti Maamau pulled out of a pre-arranged meeting with Foreign Minister Winston Peters last week, just days before it was set to happen. Peters had repeatedly tried to meet with Maamau, who is also Kiribati’s Foreign Minister.
Speaking about the decision to hold aid, Peters said New Zealand was a “good” and “responsible” neighbour to Kiribati.
“I do not believe we’ve done wrong here in any shape or form,” he told 1News.
“I think — across the divide politically and [with] successive governments — we’ve been an extraordinarily generous partner. I don’t think we’re getting the reciprocal reaction we expect.”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon also weighed in and said: “It’s quite right that we say well, we’re sending taxpayer money to a place where we don’t have engagement. We want to have an engagement — we need to be able to do that.”
Peters called it a “bad event” for both the people of Kiribati and the New Zealand taxpayer. From 2021 to 2024, New Zealand provided Kiribati $102 million in aid.
“Accepting we do not have an option if we’ve been assisting an economy and we’ve had a breakdown in communications, your job is to ensure taxpayers’ money is part of an accountability process. Your job is to do that professionally. That’s what we’re doing.”
‘Difficult to walk back’ from this action — security expert
The repercussions of Kiribati’s continued and deepening isolation were swift, but experts believed threatening aid and immigration was risky.
Associate professor in security studies at Massey University Anna Powles said: “It will be very difficult to walk back from that and find common ground with Kiribati where the challenges within the relationship can actually be resolved.”
Professor Steven Ratuva, Canterbury University pro vice chancellor for Pacific studies, said withholding aid may create diplomatic instability and political tension in the Pacific region.
“New Zealand might find itself isolated within the forum itself where it finds a lot of friends,” he said.
“So, it’s significant in terms of New Zealand having to face up to the consequences later on.”
Kiribati has been on a path of self-isolation from Western countries and many in the Pacific since switching diplomatic allegiances from Taiwan to China in 2019.
Exclusive: $100m aid programme under review and seasonal workers programme looked at as Pacific nation further aligns with China. (Source: 1News)
Kiribati has extremely close ties with China, and there were challenges in knowing how deep their relationship went.
Most of the agreements were not made public, but Chinese influence could be seen everywhere, such as police being involved in community outreaches. There were Chinese medical teams, and Beijing was funding large infrastructure projects such as roads and bridges.
Other leaders have also made repeated attempts to engage with President Maamau. However, Nauru and Fiji were two exceptions, with Maamau arriving in Fiji today to meet with Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka – a meeting New Zealand badly wanted.
Powles said New Zealand was at risk of pushing Kiribati further towards China.
“Tthis is what I would refer to as a strategic miscalculation by New Zealand. This potentially deepens the relationship between China and Kiribati — it will provide Beijing with leverage.”