By H.E. the Honorable Lord Fakafanua, Prime Minister of Tonga When Pacific leaders meet, we speak for nations whose futures are inseparable from the ocean. Yet some of the decisions affecting our people are made thousands of kilometres away, in negotiating rooms where Pacific countries are few and Large Ocean States are wholly absent. Tonga […]
Tag: Tonga
Posted inIn Focus
China ‘likely’ ran targeted campaign to align Pacific with its latest five-year plan
WASHINGTON, 21 AUGUST 2026 (RADIO FREE ASIA)—China “very likely” coordinated a targeted campaign across the Pacific to demonstrate that local development strategies should align with Beijing’s latest five-year-plan, a recent report by The Alliance Futures Initiative says. In the report, titled “China’s Model on the Offensive: Why China’s Five-Year Plan Promotion in the Pacific Matters,” […]
Posted inPacific News
U.S imposes visa bonds of up to $27k for several Pacific countries
CANBERRA, 24 AUGUST 2026 (ABC) — Clients never used to cry in Alisi Mo’ungaloa Afu’s office, but it’s not uncommon these days. “Some people have cried because they weren’t able to travel to funerals,” she said. Mo’ungaloa Afu is a Tonga-based travel agent who has spent 15 years helping locals navigate the United States visa […]
Posted inPacific News
Tongan seasonal workers jailed for lakeside abduction and sex attack
DUNEDIN, 04 JUNE 2020 (STUFF NZ) — Two Tongan orchard workers who laughed as they sexually violated a woman near a Central Otago lake have been jailed. Suliasi Fangatua, 30, and Taniela Siale, 22, who were in New Zealand as part of a seasonal working scheme, appeared for sentencing on charges of abduction and sexual […]
Posted inPacific News
Volcanic eruption creates new island in Tongan archipelago
NUKU’ALOFA, 07 NOVEMBER 2019 (AFP via PacNews)—An undersea volcanic eruption in the Tongan archipelago has sunk one island and created another three times larger, according to a report by geologists released Thursday. Taaniela Kula, of the Tonga Geological Service, said the new Lateiki island is estimated to be about 100 metres wide and 400 metres […]
Posted inOpinion
Rugby league’s Pacific revolution goes global after Tongan triumph
SYDNEY, 06 NOVEMBER 2019 (THE GUARDIAN/PACNEWS)–As Australia worked through the seven stages of grief (with heavy doses of anger and denial) following Saturday’s defeat at Eden Park, Tonga experienced rugby league deliverance – a seminal, life-changing moment of shared hope in which the giant killing team had for the first time defeated Tier 1 heavyweights […]