US to open embassy in Tonga amid China’s growing regional influence
A senior US official says the United States is on track to open an embassy in the Pacific island nation of Tonga, in Oceania this month.
The move comes as the administration of President Joe Biden is seen as increasing its involvement in the region to counter China’s growing influence in the south China sea and surrounding islands.
Daniel Kritenbrink, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, announced the plan during a Senate hearing on Tuesday.
Kritenbrink said the US aims to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific.
The US opened an embassy in the Solomon Islands earlier this year. The Biden administration has said it is in talks to do the same in Kiribati and Vanuatu.
Biden is planning to visit Papua New Guinea after attending the G7 summit in Hiroshima that begins on May 19.
He is to hold a meeting in Papua New Guinea with leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum, which consists of 18 nations and territories including Australia.
Tonga is a Polynesian kingdom of more than 170 South Pacific islands, many uninhabited, most lined in white beaches and coral reefs and covered with tropical rainforest. The main island, Tongatapu, is protected by lagoons and limestone cliffs. It’s home to the rural capital of Nuku’alofa, as well as beach resorts, plantations and the Ha’amonga ʻa Maui, a monumental coral gate from the 1200s.
