Category Archives: Tonga

Biden pledges more aid to Pacific islands to counter growing Chinese influence

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Leaders of Pacific island states have been given star treatment in Washington but Chinese influence is the spectre at the feast

Joe Biden has offered more economic aid to Pacific islands at a White House meeting with leaders from the region aimed at bolstering US engagement in the face of a growing Chinese presence.

The president also announced formal US recognition of two new island nations, the Cook Islands and Niue, at the start of the Pacific Islands Forum, two days of Washington meetings with leaders from the group’s 18 members.

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Biden seeks to win over Pacific leaders as Solomon Islands turns back on talks

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‘Historic’ summit seen as part of effort to counter Beijing in the region as Pacific leaders seek more support on climate change

President Joe Biden will host Pacific leaders at the White House this week as the US seeks to bolster its engagement with the nations amid growing concern about China’s presence in the region.

The US is expected to offer funding for infrastructure and more maritime cooperation, and new embassies for Cook Islands and Nuie. But the talks have already suffered a setback as Solomon Islands prime minister Manasseh Sogavare, now closely aligned with Beijing, will not attend.

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Tonga volcano explosion equalled most powerful ever US nuclear test

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Scientists calculate 2022 eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano released 1,000 times more energy than Hiroshima bomb

A huge underwater volcanic event in Tonga last year was of a magnitude comparable with the most powerful nuclear detonation by the US, researchers have revealed.

Scientists have used eye and earwitnesses accounts, along with data from tide gauges, satellites, evidence of broken windows and other sources, to calculate that the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano, which occurred on 15 January 2022 and was felt around the world, likely involved five blasts. The last of them released energy equivalent to about 15 megatonnes of TNT.

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China holds talks on policing with Pacific island officials

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Two countries said their police chiefs were unable to attend video meeting chaired by Chinese and Solomon Islands ministers

China said it held a video meeting to discuss police cooperation with a group of Pacific island nations on Tuesday, however at least two nations told Reuters their ministers and police commissioners had been unavailable to attend.

China’s attempt to strike a security and trade deal with 10 Pacific island nations in May fuelled concern in Washington and Canberra about Beijing’s military ambitions in the region, and prompted a boost in western aid.

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Smiles and unity at the Pacific Islands Forum mask tough questions shelved for another day

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While leaders presented a picture of harmony, more vexing topics like Australia’s fossil fuel ambitions and China were kicked down the road

At the close of the Pacific Islands Forum the leaders emerged from their retreat smiling, cut a giant cake with a sword and then, in an impromptu moment of diplomatic bonhomie, posed for a selfie after Anthony Albanese whipped out his phone, Ellen DeGeneres style.

It was, quite literally, a picture of harmony.

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CSIRO joins deep-sea mining project in Pacific as islands call for industry halt

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Agency to lead consortium in scheme targeting battery materials while conservationists say Australia on ‘wrong side of debate’

Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO, has agreed to work with a controversial deep-sea mining project in the Pacific as a fourth island nation joins a call for a moratorium on the industry.

CSIRO will lead a consortium of scientists from Australia and New Zealand to help the Metals Company (TMC) develop an environmental management plan for its project, which is backed by the Nauru government.

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Serious defects discovered in patrol boats Australia supplied to Pacific Islands

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Potentially serious faults in Guardian-class patrol boats may force some countries to pause use of vessels

Pacific island countries may halt the use of Australian-provided patrol boats after potentially serious defects were discovered, in a blow to a $2.1bn maritime security program.

The Australian government is now considering how to work with Pacific nations to close any gap in their maritime surveillance activities while the issues – including carbon monoxide entering part of the boat – are resolved.

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China insists Tonga loans come with ‘no political strings attached’

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Ambassador rejects ‘debt trap’ concerns, saying heavily indebted Pacific nation will not be forced to pay back loans

China’s ambassador to Tonga has denied engaging in “debt trap” diplomacy in the Pacific, saying in his first press conference in two years that if the heavily indebted country cannot repay its loans, “we can talk and negotiate in a friendly, diplomatic manner”.

Cao Xiaolin told Tuesday’s gathering in Nuku’alofa – a rare opportunity for journalists to question Chinese officials – that preferential loans from China came with “no political strings attached” and that Beijing would never force countries to repay the loans.

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‘Things aren’t going back’: Australia braces for step-up in China’s Pacific push

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Despite initial relief over island nations’ rejection of security and economic pact, senior government figure says reprieve could be only temporary

The Australian government is bracing for China to step up its push to expand influence in the Pacific, with a senior figure privately conceding Canberra has a lot of work to do to regain lost trust and strengthen regional unity.

Despite initial relief at a decision by Pacific island countries to defer a sweeping 10-country security and economic pact proposed by China, the Australian government now believes this may be only a temporary reprieve.

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‘We just keep going’: the Tongan resort destroyed by nature’s fury – for the third time

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Despite a narrow escape from last month’s tsunami and the arrival of Covid in Tonga, Ha’atafu owner Moana Paea is determined to rebuild her resort once again

When the Ha’atafu beach resort was levelled by the tsunami that hit Tonga last month, it was the third time that the family-run business had been completely destroyed by a natural disaster.

In 1982, the resort was wiped out by Cyclone Isaac and a year later by Cyclone Kina.

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‘They didn’t think help was coming’: a month on from Tonga tsunami – in pictures

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When a tsunami and volcanic eruption devastated Tonga, photographer Leki Lao boarded a navy boat to deliver emergency supplies. He witnessed destruction, heartache and fear

At 6.30am on the day after the tsunami hit, I went into work. I am a procurement officer at the Ministry of Lands in Tonga, and work as a photographer on the side. I had seen videos on Facebook that showed the waves from the tsunami reached the ministry’s building in the capital of Nuku’alofa and I wanted to see if I could help with the cleanup.

Top: A boat found more than 60 metres from the sea on Tungua. The owner checks for damage and a way to haul it back to the ocean.
Bottom: A police station on the beach on Nomuka island next to what remains of a main road.

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Covid-stricken Australian aid ship makes contactless delivery to virus-free Tonga

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Fears that aid missions could spark a Covid outbreak were highlighted when two dozen crew members were diagnosed with the virus

British and Australian navy ships have arrived in Tonga and attempted to deliver aid without making contact with anybody ashore to avoid spreading the coronavirus in a nation that has never had an outbreak.

The danger of spreading the disease was underscored when nearly two dozen sailors aboard the Australian ship HMAS Adelaide were reported infected on Tuesday, raising fears they could bring Covid-19 to the small Pacific archipelago devastated by an undersea volcanic eruption and a tsunami on 15 January.

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‘Houses are just gone’: Tonga emerges from volcano and tsunami disaster

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The eruption was unlike anything ever seen by Tongans, who are trying to rebuild their lives and devastated communities

Tonga is used to natural disasters, but they have never experienced anything like the last week.

“We’ve experienced tropical cyclones, but this is so new and no one will ever forget this, ever,” says Marian Kupu, a journalist for BroadCom Broadcasting FM87.5 in Tonga.

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Tonga volcano: drinking water is priority as aid begins to arrive for stricken nation

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The first aid vessels and flights have arrived and more are on their way as the devastated Pacific nation begins clean-up

Tonga’s government said drinking water was the priority as the clean-up continued a week after a devastating volcanic eruption and tsunami.

A national emergency team had already distributed 60,000 litres of water to residents, the government said on Saturday. A desalination plant on a New Zealand naval ship that arrived on Friday, capable of producing 70,000 litres a day, has started drawing seawater from Tonga’s harbour.

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Diary of a disaster: the week that Tonga went silent

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Seven days after a massive volcanic eruption that spawned a tsunami and ash cloud, communications are still largely down and the scale of the catastrophe unknown

It was the week Tonga disappeared.

Riveted by the shocking satellite images of the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano and subsequent tsunami, the eyes of the world turned to the South Pacific island country, home to about 100,000 people, on Saturday. But just as the world was desperate for news from Tonga, it went dark.

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‘I thought of God and my family’: Tongan survivor on spending 24 hours at sea – video

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Lisala Folau, a survivor of the Tonga tsunami, spoke on Friday of being swept to sea from the island of Atata. 'The scariest part of the ordeal for me was when the waves took me from land into the sea,' he told Sky News. The 57-year-old was swept away by a tsunami generated by a volcanic eruption on 15 January. 

Folau, a retired carpenter with a motion disability, managed to stay afloat for more than a day and make his way across the sea to the main island of Tongatapu. He said his faith in God and his family were the two things that occupied his thoughts while he was helpless at sea

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‘Absolutely amazing’: Tongan man swept away by tsunami stayed afloat for 24 hours

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Lisala Folau climbed a tree on his home island before being washed away and eventually managing to reach the capital

The story of a Tongan man washed away by the tsunami and who drifted and swam between islands for more than 24 hours has become one of the first to emerge from the island nation, five days after the disaster cut off communications between it and the rest of the world.

Lisala Folau, a retired disabled carpenter, told Tongan radio station Broadcom FM that he swam and floated from his island of Atata via two other uninhabited islands to eventually reach the main island of Tongatapu, a total distance of around 13 kilometres.

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Tonga: new footage shows aftermath of volcano eruption and tsunami – video

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Footage has emerged from Tonga showing buildings covered with ash, as well as damage to properties and infrastructure. The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted on Saturday evening, triggering tsunami waves of up to 15 metres. Water supplies were seriously affected by volcanic ash, according to the government

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Tongans in Australia fear the worst amid a void in communications after tsunami – video

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Members of the Tongan diaspora feared never seeing their loved ones on the Pacific island again when communications were cut off following the volcanic eruption on Saturday. 'I'm aware that other islanders, other Pacific people, other Tongans, all feel exactly my feeling. That's how close we are.' said Tongan-Australian artist and activist Seini Taumoepeau. She said she hasn't had any contact with relatives and friends in Tonga days after a massive volcanic eruption and tsunami caused significant damage and cut off phone and internet lines for the archipelago.

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Tonga says volcanic eruption and tsunami an ‘unprecedented disaster’

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Government issues first official update since huge blast on Saturday, saying death toll could rise

Tonga is facing an “unprecedented disaster” from a massive volcanic eruption that covered the nation in ash and 15-metre tsunami waves that destroyed almost all the homes on two small islands, the government has said.

Hampered by a communications breakdown caused by the severing of a major undersea cable, authorities had not released an official update since the blast on Saturday, when the Pacific island nation was shaken by what may have been the largest volcanic event in three decades.

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