Tonga government denies accusations over Chinese aid

Is our current Tongan government under PM Pohiva under some kind of ... drip? Or are they living in a totally different reality to the one we all live in? I mean, it has been known for a long time that the rebuilding of Nuku'alofa after the 2006 riot was based on a loan from the Chinese government. It is also a know fact, that the Chinese government does not give financial Aids to poor countries like ours. The money they give is considered some kind of "investment for benefits under negotiation". Their strategy is to negotiate the benefits they want from us, based on their political interests at particular points in time. This trend of loaning from China seems to have continued ever since 2006. I think the Pohiva government needs to be honest and say that whatever benefits we may have yielded from the rebuilding of Nuku'alofa is downplayed by the accumulated debt it has incurred on us Tongans and the future of our country. The Pohiva government needs to account for the accumulated debt of $237.7 million which has resulted from ongoing borrowing from the Chinese government. We haven't heard that China is willing to cancel this debt. Worst still, we haven't heard that the Tongan government has begun to pay back the China government on this huge debt. Neither have they put in place some economic measures towards paying them back. So, what is the Pohiva government saying about China's involvement in Tonga by lending us this huge amount of money? Do they just want to appear favorable to China so they can continue to allow the Tongan government to keep borrowing? Is politics far more important than honesty and good governance? Who is going to pay this debt? We know that the Pohiva government has not revealed any plan on how to pay back China. So what have we got to offer China in return for this huge debt? Our children will one day condemn this government since they borrowed from their future and then play politics rather than facing reality. I mean, the least of what the government could have done is to honestly admit that this huge debt is beyond their ability to pay back China and then ask the Australian government to help us in order to pay back China. The Pohiva government has got to wake up before its too late.

Faka'apa'apa atu,

Ma'afu Palu