The US said it has opened an embassy in the Kingdom of Tonga, as it jostles with China’s growing clout in the South Pacific.
Tonga, a Polynesian archipelago of about 100,000 people, is the latest in a string of Pacific nations targeted in a renewed US diplomatic push into the region.
The new embassy in the capital, Nuku’alofa, was officially opened on Tuesday, with more diplomatic staff to follow, the US Department of State said in a statement.
Photo: AP
“This opening symbolizes the renewal of our relationship and underlines the strength of our bilateral relations, to the people of Tonga, and to our partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region,” it said.
The department tipped the “potential appointment” of a resident US ambassador to Tonga.
Washington in February restored its embassy in the Solomon Islands after a 30-year hiatus. It also has plans to open embassies in Vanuatu and Kiribati.
The US has been the dominant military force in the South Pacific since World War II, but the region is increasingly the arena for powers to compete for commercial, political and military influence.
China, the rising military power in the region, has also asserted itself through its expanding diplomatic reach, investment, police training and security deals.
The US and its allies were taken by surprise when China last year reached a secretive security pact with the Solomon Islands.
Despite denials from the Solomon Islands, US and Australian officials have voiced concerns that the pact could open vast waters to the Chinese military.
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