(AGENPARL) - Roma, 26 Luglio 2023 - (AGENPARL) – mer 26 luglio 2023 You are subscribed to Secretary’s Remarks for U.S. Department of State. This information has recently been updated, and is now available.
07/25/2023 10:23 PM EDT
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
PRIME MINISTER HU’AKAVAMEILIKU: (In Tongan.)
It is a great honor to warmly welcome to the Kingdom of Tonga the Secretary of State of the United States of America, Mr. Antony Blinken. The visit today by Secretary Blinken is historic. It is the first visit by a sitting U.S. secretary of state to Tonga. It is the highest-level visit we have received from the United States Government in our recent history. There is a clear indication to us of the desire and commitment by the United States of America to strengthen relations between our two countries.
Mr. Secretary, once again, thank you for visiting Tonga.
Ladies and gentlemen, Secretary Blinken and I have just concluded a rich but also very frank exchange on key areas of partnership. Our partnership is grounded on our shared respect for democracy, the rule of law, and the rights and freedom of others. We covered many aspects of our partnership, including the need for countries to raise commitment to tackling climate crisis. We agreed that education is an important component. In addition, we acknowledged a changing global landscape, the impacts of conflict, and the strategic importance of Pacific Island region. We agreed that working together, guided by strategies such as the Pacific 2050 Strategy, would be key to ensuring that our – ours remain a region of peace, security, and prosperity.
The United States and the Kingdom of Tonga enjoy a longstanding and enduring partnership. A strength of that partnership is the people-to-people links, and we appreciate and acknowledge the important and valuable contribution from the United States Peace Corps.
Last year we celebrated a milestone – 50 years of diplomatic relations with the United States – and welcomed the announcement by Vice President Kamala Harris of the United States decision to establish its first diplomatic mission here in the kingdom. Today I congratulated the Secretary for their work undertaken together with our officials and who worked tirelessly, might I add, to ensure that the U.S. embassy was set up in record time. In May this year, we hoisted for the very first time the flag of the United States in Nuku’alofa, at a remarkable and historic event marking the establishment of the embassy. Secretary Blinken is in Nuku’alofa to preside over the dedication ceremony for the embassy.
I told the Secretary that the establishment of the U.S. embassy and his presence here today is a testament to the fact that our partnership is growing from strength to strength. The people of the Kingdom of Tonga and his majesty’s government are deeply grateful for the United States Government assistance towards our recovery efforts, especially for the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption and the ensuing tsunami. We’ll proceed to the dedication ceremony of the U.S. embassy, another milestone in the Tonga-U.S. relations.
Our partnership enjoys a strong defense component. Tonga has contributed significantly to international peace and security, particularly in support of the United States troops, firstly deploying soldiers to Iraq, and then, in 2010, Tonga deployed the first contingent of 55 soldiers to Afghanistan in support of the British armed forces’ efforts in the International Security Assistance Force. But our defense relations go back even further. World War II – Tonga hosted U.S. military forces on the main island. We became a major transit hub for Allied shipping lanes during the war. At one point there were more U.S. Marines in Tonga than there were Tongans. (Laughter.) And this is a testimony to how two countries, whether big or small, can and must work together to pursue our shared values for freedom and democracy.
More importantly, it is a reminder of the enduring links Tonga and the United States share. The Secretary and I had the opportunity to look at a range of renewed and strengthened areas for our partnership. I asked the Secretary to expedite the visa processing facilities here in Nuku’alofa. The high cost associated with visa applications to the United States during the process (inaudible) puts great strains on Tongan families. We also discussed working together to mitigate problems with IUU, deportees, and also trafficking in persons, and of course cyber security.
Finally, we agreed to continue high-level dialogue between our Pacific leaders and President Biden. This will be key to ensuring our partnership and shared agenda for our region continue to be strengthened. And I look forward to our second U.S.-Pacific summit between our Pacific leaders and President Biden in September. This is very important given the fact that Tonga will be taking up the chairmanship of the Pacific Islands Forum for the next year.
Mr. Secretary, once again, thank you for making time in your very busy schedule to visit Tonga, and I look forward to our continued efforts to achieve shared goals for the benefit of both our peoples. (In Tongan.)
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER HU’AKAVAMEILIKU: And now I’d like to invite the Secretary to make a statement.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you very much. Good morning, everyone. And let me first thank the Honorable Hu’akavameiliku for his hospitality. It’s no surprise, Honorable Prime Minister, that your country is known as the “Friendly Islands.” We’ve experienced that even in the brief time that we’ve been here already.
I am very happy to return to the Pacific Islands – this is my third time in the Pacific Islands as Secretary of State – but to make my first visit to Tonga and to make my first visit to Tonga. And indeed, as the honorable prime minister said, this is actually the first visit by a member of the U.S. cabinet to visit Tonga. We are fellow Pacific nations with an incredibly rich history, as you’ve heard the prime minister allude to, but, as important, a shared future.
President Biden is fully committed to working with Tonga, and with all Pacific Islands, to usher in a new era of even closer collaboration to deliver on the issues that matter most to our people – rooted in mutual respect and mutual trust.
This partnership is vital to making real a shared vision for the region and the broader Indo-Pacific – a region that’s open, that’s free, that’s connected, that’s prosperous, that’s secure, that is resilient.
When we talk about “free and open,” we mean a region where all countries are free to choose their own path and their own partners; where problems are dealt with openly; where rules are reached transparently and applied fairly; where goods, where ideas, where people can move freely and lawfully.
Last year, President Biden launched the first-ever U.S.-Pacific Islands Summit, to bring the voices and perspectives of Pacific Island leaders – including the honorable prime minister – directly to the Oval Office. And we look very much forward to continuing that work by hosting a second summit in Washington later this year.
At last year’s summit, our countries issued the U.S.-Pacific Partnership Declaration, committing us to work together to address the challenges of our time and to seize the opportunities of our partnership. As part of that commitment, we announced over $810 million to support programs in the Pacific Islands like Tonga. That includes nearly half a billion dollars to manage the growing effects of the climate crisis – an immediate, existential challenge in the Pacific; a daily reality in Tonga.
We’re strengthening our partnership on other priorities for Tonga and for the region, including on clean energy and sustainable infrastructure so that we can reach a net zero future; maritime security so that we can ensure a peaceful and stable future for the Pacific; digital transformation so that we can build open, interoperable, reliable, and secure online infrastructure and connect people better; and what we call people-centered development so that we can drive inclusive economic growth that lifts everyone. These are all areas of focus of the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.
To better understand the needs of our Pacific partners and to carry out our shared efforts, we’re building up our diplomatic capacity in the region. In May, we took a major step in that direction by opening our embassy here in Nuku’alofa, which the prime minister and I will formally dedicate today. We also set up our embassy in the Solomon Islands. We’re working to establish posts in Vanuatu and in Kiribati.
Today, as you’ve heard the honorable prime minister say, we discussed concrete ways to carry forward this momentum. That includes building on our work to strengthen our bilateral relationship, none more significant than opening the new embassy. We also talked about the importance of the return of the Peace Corps to Tonga. For over half a century, volunteers have worked alongside local communities to bolster the capacity of teachers, to conserve rainwater, to combat ocean pollution and the erosion of coral reefs, and even turn trash into construction material that can be used for sustainable building.
What’s so powerful about the program, too, is that it has built lifelong bonds between Tongans and thousands of American volunteers, and later today I’ll have an opportunity to meet with the newest cohort of Peace Corps volunteers.
The honorable prime minister and I also talked about how we can strengthen the engagement of other partners on shared Pacific priorities. Another initiative last year launched by President Biden is something called Partners in the Blue Pacific, to better coordinate efforts on issues that matter most to communities across the region. When I travel after here to New Zealand and then to Australia, I’ll discuss with my counterparts ways to advance that work, including on maritime security and on illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. We know that this is in many places devastating livelihoods, doing terrible damage to ecosystems, and together with our Partners in the Blue Pacific an area where we’re going to intensely focus our efforts.
Later today, when we dedicate the new embassy, the United States and Tonga will mark a new chapter in our relationship. I look forward to continuing to build a closer, stronger future between our countries so that we together can deliver for our people not just now but for generations to come. Thank you very much.
PRIME MINISTER HU’AKAVAMEILIKU: And now we’re going to open up the floor for questions. We’re only going to take four questions, two from the Tonga press and two from the foreign press. And with that we’ll probably alternate, one from the Tonga press and then the foreign press. And so the first one, give it to the local press if you want to.
QUESTION: (In Tongan.) Mr. Secretary, Mr. Prime Minister. My question is directed at the U.S. Secretary. How confident are you with your relationship with Tonga in light of other interests from other countries in the Pacific? And then coming to what you just said, you are opening up or you are witnessing the opening of the embassy of the United States in Tonga. Then after that you’re going to appoint a permanent ambassador to Tonga, resident here in Tonga. What will be your priority after that to Tonga, politics or immigration? Thank you.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you very much for the question. First, with regard to the embassy, we very much look forward to having a permanently confirmed ambassador to Tonga. That’s something we’re very actively working on now. My expectation is we’ll have someone to nominate in very short order, and then, of course, we have to work through the United States Senate to get that person confirmed. But you will see someone as ambassador permanently running the embassy here in Tonga.
And I have to say the very fact of that embassy is both symbolic and practical – symbolic in that it attests to the importance that we attach to the relationship between the United States and Tonga; practical because in terms of doing so much of what you’ve heard the honorable prime minister and myself talk about today, that will happen through the day-in, day-out contact that we’re able to have as a result of having an embassy here. The prime minister referenced the historic summit meeting that we had in Washington with President Biden over three days where we had leaders from Pacific Island countries come together in Washington, but as I shared with the prime minister, as important as those three days are, it’s the 362 days that follow in the year that make all the difference in terms of actually following through on the work that we’re doing together.
What President Biden is intensely focused on is listening – listening to our partners, understanding what it is on a very practical level that we can do as partners to help make a difference in the lives of people in the Pacific Islands. And that’s the agenda that we have and that’s the agenda that the embassy will carry out.
We’ve talked about the imperative of combating climate change. The United States is determined to be a strong partner in that effort. We’ve made in the United States the biggest historic investment in combating climate change – through something we call the Inflation Reduction Act – in history, but the benefits of those investments will be felt around the world. We’re also making sure that we’re doing our part in contributing to the necessary funds so that countries are able to help pay for adaptation and build resilience. We talked a lot about that today and the need to do even more here in the Pacific Islands.
We’re the – historically the largest emitter in the world. We’re now the number two emitter, so we take very seriously our responsibilities both to take the steps necessary to keep warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius but also to make sure that our partners have the resources they need, the technical expertise and the technology that they need to confront this challenge. Through the partnership in the Blue Pacific as well, bringing in other countries, we’re engaged in initiatives that also will help deal with climate change.
We talked about the challenge of illegal fishing – unreported, unregulated fishing. As I mentioned, this is something we know is doing terrible damage to people’s livelihoods, to ecosystems. It also is potentially a threat to security. We’re building up abilities to deal with that, to identify it, to deal with it, to build what we call maritime domain awareness so that all countries in the Pacific have an understanding about what’s going on in the waters that surround them so that they can protect the livelihoods and protect their security.
We’re looking at ways to strengthen our education partnerships. We talked about that as well today. We’re gratified that we have 70,000 Tongans living in the United States. We have that powerful connectivity as well.
But the most important thing is through our diplomacy that we really understand what it is that is a priority for people here throughout the Pacific Islands, and what we can do as partners in a very concrete way to help meet those needs and meet those priorities. We had the terrible disaster with the volcanic eruption and the tsunami. We were gratified to be able to be of assistance. But now, as a practical matter, one of the initiatives we have is to do what we would call humanitarian warehousing, to make sure that the supplies and other things that are – that might be needed in a future emergency are readily available on hand so that a response can be immediate and doesn’t have to wait.
Anyway, there are a long list of things that we’re working on together, but it’s all driven by focusing on what’s concrete, what can really make a difference in people’s lives. I was recently in Indonesia, and there’s a proverb in Indonesia that says God has given us one mouth but two ears. And that emphasizes the importance of really listening to each other and making sure that we understand what it is our friends need and how we can help.
PRIME MINISTER HU’AKAVAMEILIKU: And then I’ll take the first one from the foreign press.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Vivian.
QUESTION: Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Secretary. (Inaudible), thank you for hosting us in your beautiful country. I’ll start with you, a quick question. The Secretary mentioned the Solomon Islands. The Solomon Islands entered into a security pact also with China last year. Tonga has one of three militaries here in the Pacific Island region. And so can you talk about whether or not our country is exploring deepening its security relationship with China, whether or not a security pact similar to the one the Solomon Islands struck last year is on the table here, or whether or not you’ve chosen to align more with the U.S. and its regional allies like Australia.
And for you, Mr. Secretary, two questions, if you will. Chinese President Xi Jinping removed his hand-picked foreign minister after less than seven months on the job. How might this impact efforts to build on the recent progress you made during your trip to Beijing last month?
And secondly, Israeli protesters were met in the streets this week by water cannons after Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began overhauling the country’s judicial system. The U.S. has long praised Israel as a valued democratic partner in the region. What do the recent events in Israel tell you about the state of Israel’s democracy?