Tonga: Mr. Antony Blinken, the United States secretary of state, has promised to support Pacific nations and reiterated a warning regarding the risks posed by “predatory” Chinese investments as he dedicated a new embassy in the island nation of Tonga.
Mr. Blinken’s visit to Nuku’alofa makes him the first US Secretary of State to pay an official visit to Tonga and comes as part of US efforts to counter China’s growing influence in the region.
“We are a Pacific nation. We very much see the future in the Indo-Pacific region,” Mr. Blinken commented while pledging support for projects important to them.
“We really understand what is a priority for the people here. There is a long list of things that we are working on together, but it is all driven by focusing on what’s concrete, what can really make a difference in people’s lives,” the US Secretary of State noted.
“As China’s engagement in the region has grown, there has been some, from our perspective, increasingly problematic behaviour,” Mr. Blinken remarked while warning about aid from Beijing.
The US Secretary of State claimed China had been behind “some predatory economic activities and also investments that are done in a way that can actually undermine good governance and promote corruption”.
Tonga, a Polynesian archipelago of about 100,000 people, is the latest in a string of Pacific island states being targeted in a renewed US diplomatic push. The new US embassy in the capital, Nukualofa, was officially opened in May 2023.
“His presence here today is a testament to the fact that our partnership is growing from strength to strength,” Tongan Prime Minister Mr. Hu’akavemeiliku Siaosi Sovaleni stated, welcoming a “shared respect for democracy, the rule of law, and the rights and freedoms of others”.
After Tonga, Mr. Blinken will head to Wellington, New Zealand, where he will attend the Women’s World Cup match between the US and the Netherlands. The US Secretary of State will have meetings with New Zealand officials and then move on to Brisbane, Australia, for meetings with US Defence Secretary Mr. Lloyd Austin and their Australian counterparts.
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