The New Zealand government says it is reviewing its development aid programme with the Pacific nation of Kiribati after the country's president cancelled a meeting with New Zealand’s foreign minister earlier in January.

It followed months of growing frustration from Australia and New Zealand – jointly responsible for more than a third of overseas development finance to Kiribati in 2022 – about a lack of engagement with the island nation. Tensions have risen since Kiribati aligned itself with China in 2019 and signed a series of bilateral deals with Beijing.

Kiribati, a Pacific Ocean neighbour of Hawaii with a vast Exclusive Economic Zone of 3.6 million square kilometres (1.4 million square miles) has developed close ties to Beijing in recent years, including hosting Chinese police.

While New Zealand has been a long-standing development partner, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters has not managed a meeting with Kiribati President Taneti Maamau since returning to office in 2023.

A spokesman for Peters said in an email late on Monday that the foreign minister had planned to travel to Kiribati and meet with its president and Foreign Minister Taneti Maamau earlier this month, but about a week prior to departure had been told Maamau was no longer available to receive him.

“This was especially disappointing because the visit was to be the first in over five years by a New Zealand minister to Kiribati – and was the result of a months-long effort to travel there,” he said.

The lack of political-level contact makes it very difficult for New Zealand and Kiribati to agree on joint priorities for our development programme, and to ensure that it is well targeted and delivers good value for money, the spokesman added.

“For this reason, we are reviewing our development programme in Kiribati. The outcomes of that review will be announced in due course. Other aspects of the bilateral relationship may also be impacted,” the spokesperson said.

This may also impact visa allocations for i-Kiribati, who want to travel to New Zealand to work in seasonal jobs such as fruit picking, he said.

Maamau’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Dealing with Kiribati

An strategically important island nation

The bond between Kiribati – population 120,000 – and its near neighbour New Zealand, a country of 5 million people, might not appear the South Pacific's most significant. But the acrimony reflects concern from western powers that their interests in the region are being undermined as China woos Pacific leaders with offers of funding and loans.

That has provoked a contest for influence over Kiribati, an atoll nation that is among the world's most imperiled by rising sea levels. Its proximity to Hawaii and its vast exclusive economic zone – the world's 12th largest – have boosted its strategic importance.

A boy scavenges at Red Beach dump, on Tarawa atoll, Kiribati. – AP

Powers vie for sway with aid

Kiribati, one of the world’s most aid-dependent nations, relies heavily on international support, with foreign assistance accounting for 18 per cent of its national income in 2022, according to data from the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank. About 10 per cent of development finance that year came from New Zealand – which contributed NZ$102 million between 2021 and 2024, official figures show.

However, officials in Wellington and Canberra have expressed frustration over a lack of engagement from Tarawa regarding development projects. Frictions escalated when Kiribati suspended all visits from foreign officials in August, citing a need to focus on the government formation process after elections that month.

Kiribati switched its allegiance from pro-Taiwan to pro-Beijing in 2019, joining a growing number of Pacific nations to do so. Self-governing Taiwan is claimed by China and since the shift, Beijing has increased aid to Kiribati.

An official snub provokes backlash

Peters was scheduled to meet Maamau, who has led the country since 2016, in Kiribati on January 21 and January 22, Peters' office said, but was told a week before the trip that Maamau could not accommodate him. It would have been the first visit by a New Zealand minister in more than five years.

“The lack of political-level contact makes it very difficult for us to agree joint priorities for our development program, and to ensure that it is well targeted and delivers good value for money,” Peters' office said.

New Zealand will review all development cooperation with Kiribati as a result, the statement added.

The government of Kiribati did not respond to a request for comment, although Education Minister Alexander Teabo told Radio New Zealand on Tuesday that Maamau had a long-standing engagement on his home island – and denied a snub.

New Zealand cautioned that the diplomatic rift could have broader consequences, including impacting New Zealand resident visas for Kiribati citizens and participation in a popular seasonal work scheme that brings Pacific horticulture and viticulture workers to New Zealand. New Zealand – home to large populations of Pacific peoples – is a popular spot for those from island nations to live and work.

“In the meantime, New Zealand stands ready, as we always have, to engage with Kiribati at a high level,” said the statement.

Australia's softer approach

The decision to review all development funding is a “different, and more forceful approach” than New Zealand has taken before, said Blake Johnson, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, and contrasted with a different tack taken recently by Australia – which is Kiribati's biggest funder.

Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles traveled to the island nation this month as planned to deliver a patrol boat promised to Kiribati in 2023 – even though he did not meet with Maamau. Australia's foreign ministry said in a statement Tuesday that the country “remains committed to its longstanding partnership with Kiribati".