Foreign relations of Tonga

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Tonga, by a modification of its treaty of friendship with the United Kingdom in July 1970, is responsible for its own external affairs. It maintains cordial relations with most countries and has close relations with its Pacific neighbours and the United Kingdom. In 1998, it recognized the People's Republic of China and broke relations with Taiwan.[1]

Diplomatic relations

List of countries with which Tonga maintains diplomatic relations:

File:Diplomatic relations of Tonga.svg
# Country Date[2]
1 File:Flag of Kiribati.svg Kiribati No date given
2 File:Flag of Tuvalu.svg Tuvalu No date given
3 File:Flag of Nauru.svg Nauru No date given[3]
4 File:Flag of Samoa.svg Samoa No date given[4]
5 File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Template:Dts[5]
6 File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom Template:Dts[6]
7 File:Flag of Japan.svg Japan Template:Dts[7]
8 File:Flag of South Korea.svg South Korea Template:Dts[8]
9 File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia Template:Dts[9]
10 File:Flag of India.svg India Template:Dts[10]
11 File:Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada Template:Dts[11]
12 File:Flag of France.svg France Template:Dts[12]
13 File:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium Template:Dts[13]
14 File:Flag of the United States.svg United States Template:Dts[14]
15 File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden Template:Dts[15]
16 File:Flag of Russia.svg Russia Template:Dts[16]
17 File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands Template:Dts[17]
18 File:Flag of Turkey.svg Turkey Template:Dts[18]
19 File:Flag of Luxembourg.svg Luxembourg Template:Dts[19]
20 File:Flag of Israel.svg Israel Template:Dts[20]
21 File:Flag of Germany.svg Germany Template:Dts[21]
22 File:Flag of Libya.svg Libya Template:Dts[22]
23 File:Flag of Chile.svg Chile Template:Dts[23]
24 File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain Template:Dts[24]
25 File:Flag of the Solomon Islands.svg Solomon Islands Template:Dts[25]
26 File:Flag of Vanuatu.svg Vanuatu Template:Dts[26]
27 File:Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji Template:Dts[27]
28 File:Flag of the Philippines.svg Philippines Template:Dts[28]
29 File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy Template:Dts[29]
30 File:Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg Papua New Guinea Template:Dts[30]
31 File:Flag of Malaysia.svg Malaysia Template:Dts[31]
32 File:Flag of Sri Lanka.svg Sri Lanka Template:Dts[32]
33 File:Flag of Peru.svg Peru Template:Dts[33]
34 File:Flag of Greece.svg Greece Template:Dts[34]
35 File:Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland Template:Dts[34]
36 File:Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark Template:Dts[35]
37 File:Flag of Norway.svg Norway Template:Dts[36]
38 File:Flag of the Federated States of Micronesia.svg Federated States of Micronesia Template:Dts[37]
39 File:Flag of Maldives.svg Maldives Template:Dts[38]
40 File:Flag of Brunei.svg Brunei Template:Dts[39]
41 File:Flag of Pakistan.svg Pakistan Before 1991[40]
42 File:Flag of Singapore.svg Singapore Template:Dts[41]
43 File:Flag of Finland.svg Finland Template:Dts[42]
44 File:Flag of Thailand.svg Thailand Template:Dts[43]
45 File:Flag of Indonesia.svg Indonesia Template:Dts[44]
– File:Flag of Vatican City (2023–present).svg Holy See Template:Dts[45]
46 File:Flag of Morocco.svg Morocco Template:Dts[46]
47 File:Flag of Slovenia.svg Slovenia Template:Dts[47]
48 File:Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China Template:Dts[48]
49 File:Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa Template:Dts[49]
50 File:Flag of Mongolia.svg Mongolia Template:Dts
51 File:Flag of Seychelles.svg Seychelles Template:Dts
52 File:Flag of Cuba.svg Cuba Template:Dts[50]
53 File:Flag of East Timor.svg Timor-Leste Template:Dts
54 File:Flag of Eswatini.svg Eswatini Template:Dts
55 File:Flag of Malta.svg Malta Template:Dts
56 File:Flag of Venezuela.svg Venezuela Template:Dts[51]
57 File:Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg United Arab Emirates Template:Dts
58 File:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic Template:Dts[52]
59 File:Flag of Iceland.svg Iceland Template:Dts
60 File:Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico Template:Dts
61 File:Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal Template:Dts
62 File:Flag of Cyprus.svg Cyprus Template:Dts[53]
63 File:Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary Template:Dts
64 File:Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil Template:Dts[54]
65 File:Flag of Serbia.svg Serbia Template:Dts[55]
– File:Flag of the Cook Islands.svg Cook Islands Template:Dts[56]
66 Template:Country data Georgia Template:Dts
67 File:Flag of Estonia.svg Estonia Template:Dts
68 File:Flag of Kazakhstan.svg Kazakhstan Template:Dts
69 File:Flag of Poland.svg Poland Template:Dts[57]
70 File:Flag of Latvia.svg Latvia Template:Dts
71 File:Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Saudi Arabia Template:Dts
72 File:Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland Template:Dts[58]
73 File:Flag of Kuwait.svg Kuwait Template:Dts
74 File:Flag of Bahrain.svg Bahrain Template:Dts
75 File:Flag of the Marshall Islands.svg Marshall Islands Template:Dts[59]
76 File:Flag of Kyrgyzstan.svg Kyrgyzstan Template:Dts
77 File:Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg Bosnia and Herzegovina Template:Dts
78 File:Flag of Tajikistan.svg Tajikistan Template:Dts
79 File:Flag of Rwanda.svg Rwanda Template:Dts
80 File:Flag of Romania.svg Romania Template:Dts
81 File:Flag of Vietnam.svg Vietnam Template:Dts[60]
82 File:Flag of Austria.svg Austria Template:Dts[61][62]
83 File:Flag of Qatar.svg Qatar Template:Dts
84 File:Flag of Nicaragua.svg Nicaragua Template:Dts
85 File:Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg Dominican Republic Template:Dts
86 File:Flag of Nepal.svg   Nepal Template:DTS
87 File:Flag of Oman.svg Oman Template:Dts
88 File:Flag of Uruguay.svg Uruguay Template:Dts
89 File:Flag of Uganda.svg Uganda Template:Dts[63]
— File:Flag of Kosovo.svg Kosovo Script error: No such module "Date table sorting".[64]
90 File:Flag of Lithuania.svg Lithuania Template:Dts
91 File:Flag of Dominica.svg Dominica Template:Dts[65]
92 File:Flag of San Marino.svg San Marino Template:Dts[66]

Regional relations

Tonga maintains strong regional ties in the Pacific. It is a full member of the Pacific Islands Forum, the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission, the South Pacific Tourism Organisation, the Pacific Regional Environment Programme and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Tonga endorsed the Treaty of Rarotonga (the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty) in 1996.[67]

Tonga is, however, notably not one of the eight signatories of the Nauru Agreement Concerning Cooperation in the Management of Fisheries of Common Interest which collectively controls 25–30% of the world's tuna supply and approximately 60% of the western and central Pacific tuna supply.[68]

Since November 2011, Tonga has been one of the eight founding members of Polynesian Leaders Group, a regional grouping intended to cooperate on a variety of issues including culture and language, education, responses to climate change, and trade and investment.[69][70][71]

Extra-regional relations

Tonga was admitted to full membership of the Commonwealth of Nations in 1970, upon regaining its independence from British protection.

Since it has always had its own monarch, its position in the Commonwealth was rather unusual.

Tonga is an independent native Commonwealth monarchy like Brunei, Lesotho, Malaysia, and Swaziland.

Tonga was admitted to the United Nations in 1999.

Additionally outside the region, Tonga is a member or participant of the ACP, Asian Development Bank, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the G-77, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the International Development Association, the International Finance Corporation, International Hydrographic Organization, the IMF, the International Maritime Organization, Interpol, the International Olympic Committee, the ITU, the NAM, the UPU, the World Meteorological Organization and the World Trade Organization.

Bilateral relations

Country Formal Relations Began Notes
File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia 4 June 1970 See Australia–Tonga relations
File:Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil 21 December 2011
  • Brazil is accredited to Tonga from its embassy in Wellington, New Zealand.
  • Tonga does not have an accreditation to Brazil.
File:Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada 11 June 1971
  • Canada is accredited to Tonga from its High Commission in Wellington, New Zealand.[74]
  • Tonga is accredited to Canada from its Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City.[75]
File:Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China 2 November 1998 See China–Tonga relations

The Kingdom of Tonga and the People's Republic of China (PRC) established official diplomatic relations in 1998. The two countries maintain cordial diplomatic, economic and military relations.

  • China has an embassy in Nukuʻalofa.
  • Tonga has an embassy in Beijing.
File:Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji See Fiji–Tonga relations

These neighbouring countries in the South Pacific have a history of bilateral relations going back several centuries.

Fiji's Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama received "cheers and thunderous applause" from the Tongan public when he attended a Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Tonga in October 2007; the crowd's "enthusiastic reception" of Fiji's leader was likened to "that accorded to a rock star".[76] Radio Australia noted that he had been "the star of this year's meeting, for the people of Tonga",[77] while TVNZ reported that he had been "given a hero's welcome".[78]

In terms of inter-governmental relations, Tonga has generally avoided pressuring Fiji's "interim government" into holding democratic elections. However, Tongan Prime Minister Dr. Feleti Sevele has urged Bainimarama "to produce a credible roadmap to the election according to the Constitution and law of Fiji".[79]

File:Flag of Germany.svg Germany 1 May 1976
  • Germany is accredited to Tonga from its embassy in Wellington, New Zealand and maintains an honorary consulate in Nukuʻalofa.[80]
  • Tonga is accredited to Germany from its high commission in London, United Kingdom.
File:Flag of Greece.svg Greece 1984
  • Diplomatic relations were established in 1984.[81]
  • Greece is accredited to Tonga from its embassy in Wellington, New Zealand.[81]
  • Tonga does not have an accreditation to Greece.
File:Flag of India.svg India 23 December 1970 See India–Tonga relations
  • India is accredited to Tonga from its high commission in Suva, Fiji.
  • Tonga does not have an accreditation to India.
File:Flag of Japan.svg Japan July 1970
  • Japan has an embassy in Nukuʻalofa.
  • Tonga has an embassy in Tokyo.[82]
File:Flag of Latvia.svg Latvia 28 October 2020
  • Tonga and Latvia established diplomatic relations in 2020. On 28 October 2020, Tongan and Latvian Ambassadors to the United Nations signed a joint communiqué formalising the bilateral relations and expressed satisfaction over strengthening of ties between the two countries.[83]
  • Both countries see opportunities for cooperation in tackling climate change, development cooperation, economics, and cooperation in various multilateral formats, especially in the light of the prospective Latvian non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council in 2026–2027.[84]
  • In October 2024, the Speaker of the Tongan Parliament Fatafehi Fakafanua expressed support for Latvia's nomination to join the United Nations Security Council in June 2025.[85]
File:Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico 6 September 2008
  • Mexico is accredited to Tonga from its embassy in Wellington, New Zealand.[86]
  • Tonga is accredited to Mexico from its Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City.[87]
File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand 4 June 1970 See New Zealand–Tonga relations
  • New Zealand has a high commission in Nukuʻalofa.[88]
  • Tonga has a consulate-general in Auckland.[89]
File:Flag of Russia.svg Russia 14 October 1975 See Russia–Tonga relations

The Kingdom of Tonga and the Soviet Union established formal diplomatic relations in 1976. Tonga was the first Pacific Island country to establish relations with the USSR. The USSR was dissolved in 1991 and was succeeded by Russia as the successor state.

On 2 October 2005, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Tonga ST T. Tupou exchanged telegrams offering congratulations on the occasion of 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between the two nations. In his heads of foreign ministries of Russia and Tonga expressed confidence in further development of Russian-Tongan relations in the interests of the peoples of both countries and strengthen peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region.[90]

  • Russia is accredited to Tonga from its embassy in Canberra, Australia.
  • Tonga does not have an accreditation to Russia.
File:Flag of Samoa.svg Samoa See Samoa–Tonga relations

Both nations are Pacific Islands countries and members of the Commonwealth of Nations and Pacific Islands Forum.

  • Samoa is accredited to Tonga from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Apia.
  • Tonga is accredited to Samoa from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nukuʻalofa.
File:Flag of South Korea.svg South Korea 11 September 1970

The Kingdom of Tonga and the Republic of Korea have established diplomatic relations on September 11, 1970.

  • The two countries have good diplomatic relations.
  • The ROK's Investment in Tonga in 2019 was about 2.5 million $.[91]
File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain 16 November 1979
  • Spain is accredited to Tonga from its embassy in Wellington, New Zealand.
  • Tonga does not have an accreditation to Spain
File:Flag of Turkey.svg Turkey 26 January 1976[92] See Tonga–Turkey relations
  • Turkish ambassador in Wellington to New Zealand is also accredited to Tonga.[92]
  • Trade volume between the two countries was negligible in 2019.[92]
File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom 4 June 1970 See Tonga–United Kingdom relations

Tonga established diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom on 4 June 1970.[6]

The UK governed Tonga from 1900 until 1970, when Tonga achieved full independence.

Both countries share common membership of the Commonwealth, the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and the World Trade Organization. Bilaterally the two countries have an Investment Agreement.[95]

File:Flag of the United States.svg United States 4 October 1972 See Tonga–United States relations

The United States and Tonga enjoy close cooperation on a range of international issues. Officers of the American Embassy in Suva, Fiji, are concurrently accredited to Tonga and make periodic visits since the United States has no permanent consular or diplomatic offices in Tonga. Although plans for a US consulate in Tonga were announced in 2008,[96][97] it has yet to be established.[98] In May 2023, the United States announced plans to establish an embassy in Tonga, as part of a larger regional push to strengthen ties with the Pacific.[99]

Peace Corps Volunteers teach and provide technical assistance to Tongans. A large number of Tongans reside in the United States, particularly in Utah, California and Hawaii.[100]

  • Tonga is accredited to the United States from its permanent mission to the United Nations in New York City and has a consulate-general in Burlingame, California.[101]
  • United States has an embassy in Nuku’alofa.

Commonwealth of Nations

Tonga has been a member of the Commonwealth of Nations since 4 June 1970.

Tonga was a British protected monarchy from 1900 to 1970, when it became an independent native monarchy within the Commonwealth of Nations, a status shared by Brunei, Lesotho, Malaysia, and Eswatini, which also have their own native monarchs.

Current foreign policy

Tonga's foreign policy as of January 2009 has been described by Matangi Tonga as "Look East" – namely, as establishing closer diplomatic and economic relations with Asia (which actually lies to the north-west of the Pacific kingdom). Tonga retains cordial relations with the United States. Although it remains on good terms with the United Kingdom, the two countries do not maintain particularly close relations, and the United Kingdom closed its High Commission in Tonga in 2006. Tonga's relations with Oceania's regional powers, Australia and New Zealand, are very good.

International disputes

In 1972, Tonga laid claim to, and invaded, the tide-washed, isolated Minerva Reefs, some 480 kilometres southwest of Nuku'olofa, to thwart efforts by a private group, Ocean Life Research Foundation, to establish an independent Republic of Minerva (now the Principality of Minerva) on the reefs and surrounding quays. In November 2005, Fiji laid a complaint with the International Seabed Authority claiming ownership of the reefs.[102]

See also

References

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