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 U.S. and its allies and give itself access to mineral resources, fisheries and global stature.
