Interview: HM King Taufa‘ahau Tupou IV (83) [1]
Thursday, December 20, 2001 - 11:00. Updated on Thursday, February 11, 2016 - 17:56.
From Matangi Tonga Magazine, Vol. 16, no. 3, December 2001.
Interview by Pesi Fonua
When ordinary people reach the age of 64 years they are expected to retire and stop working, but if the King of Tonga, HM King Taufa‘ahau Tupou IV, at 83 years, reduces his work load and looks very tired at the end of an ordinary working day, some people seem to think that something is terribly wrong.
The New Zealand media in late October ran a news story that the King’s health was deteriorating, and claimed that there was a battle for power within the Tongan Royal family.
It was distressing news for most Tongans, but they were relieved when the smiling King arrived back in Tonga from New Zealand at the end of October after his regular health tests, and showed no signs of slowing down.
The King closed Parliament on November 1, opened the First Tonga Games on the 7th, attended the Remembrance Day service and laid a wreath at the War Memorial on 15th and then flew to Vava‘u to commemorate the occasion of when Tupou I gave Tonga to God in 1839, then the King was back in Tongatapu again. He left for New Zealand for mores health checks in the first week of December before returning to attend Privy Council meetings and to officiate at the opening of a new supermarket in Nuku‘alofa.
If the King’s health was not at its best, as the New Zealand media was claiming, then the attempt by a night club manager, Siosiua Liava‘a, to blackmail the King when he arrived in Auckland was definitely a punch below the belt. It was reported in the government paper, the Tonga Chronicle that when the King arrived in Auckland on Saturday December 1, the bankrupt Tongan businessman Siosiua Liava‘a delivered a letter to the King at ‘Atalanga, giving him 72 hours to pay $2 million or he threatened he would release some secret information about how the King had accumulated a huge wealth of $63 billion by secretly salvaging the gold from a 19th century shipwreck, the Port au Prince.
These sequences of events were extraordinary, and Matangi Tonga asked King Taufa‘ahau Tupou IV to comment directly.
Pesi Fonua: During the past few weeks there have been reports about the state of your health, and we were all very concerned. How are you, Your Majesty?
HM King Taufa‘ahau Tupou IV: I am fine, and more health checks have been carried out by doctors in New Zealand, but I am fine.
After we were told about your poor state of health, then last week there was a story in the Chronicle about a group of people who are trying to blackmail you, to either buy from them $2 million worth of secret information or they would publicise claims that you have an investment of $63 billion overseas?
It is just a story.
On a different topic, with the war in Afghanistan it seems that in our world today, conflicts between countries are no longer because of political differences, but because of differences in religious beliefs. Are we heading for a world-wide religious war?
The people who are going around bombing buildings are not true religious people, they are people who are using religions to justify what they are doing, but the Muhammadan religion is not like that. For centuries, Jewish, Christianity and the Muhammadan religions have been living together in peace, but there are people who are twisting the meaning of their religions and are instilling hatred among these religious groups. The Christians used to do it during the time of the Crusaders, when they tried to get into Jerusalem and to Palestine, but now it is carried out by the Muhammadans, for their own twisted reasons, to the Europeans. They are trying to twist religion to suit their own twisted belief.
With regards to this religious conflict is it something that inevitably should occur, or is it something that can be avoided?
There is no treatment to this indifference. The Muhammadan religion was established after Christianity, and there are verses in the Bible of the Muhammadans which state that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, and there are also comments about John the Baptist, Joseph and Mary. It also recommended for the Muhammadans to respect the Jews and the Christians even though they are different. But this, of course, is not the case with some
Muhammadans, who have influenced the views of some of these people to dislike the Jews and Christians.
The war that is going on today is to eradicate terrorism, what is your view of this war?
There is evidence that the supporters of Osama Bin Laden are trying to take full control of Afghanstan and to run the country under their own system of government. At the moment the Afghan people who recaptured the country are willing to save the lives of their Afghan enemy, but want to kill the foreigners, the Arabs, Pakistanis and others, because they have no right to be in their country killing the Afghan people. They want the foreigners to leave their country so that they can solve their own problems. They are well aware of their own problems, and the conflicts between their many nationalities.
But do you think it is possible to eradicate terrorism, considering that terrorism is the fighting tactic of the poor, and unless poverty is eradicated there will be always terrorism?
It is going to be very difficult, but if you look at people who carry out the act of terrorism, they are people from countries that are technologically very backward, whereas people who oppose terrorism are from countries that are technologically very advanced.
With regards to the state of the world economy, the concept of globalisation or a world economy, will lead to the free flow of goods and services between countries. There is a major concern by small and poor countries that a global economy would have a negative impact in the development of their own manufacturing enterprises and economies. What is Tonga’s view on the global economy?
It will definitely have an impact on our economy, but Tonga is about to take a very important step in the development of its economy. In January we will start negotiating with one of the Arabian countries, and our Prime Minister and some Ministers and officials from the Ministry of Civil Aviation will travel to the United Arab Emirates for discussions, because the UAE is interested in assisting Tonga. They have bought new aircraft capable of flying to Europe, then from Europe to the USA, but the European countries are not very keen about it because their own airline industries are having financial problems. The UAE have already bought some of these new aircraft, which they are planning to land in Malaysia and then stop over in Tonga for refuelling before flying to the USA. In order for their 747 aircraft to land in Tonga they are willing to extend the runway so that they can land. The UAE became interested in Tonga because a Tongan pilot is flying one of their aircraft and they approached the [Tongan] Prime Minister in Canada and expressed their interest.
They will bring good aircraft, even for the domestic service. That will be one of the advantages for us if we establish a good relationship with the Arabians. They have the big aircraft to connect us to the rest of the world and they have the money to guarantee loans. If we work closely with them we will discover a lot of opportunities.
Are there many Arab countries that we have diplomatic relations with?
The United Arab Emirates is made up of seven different states. They have a very good airline and they want to expand.
With regards to the troubled Trust Fund, when are the two new Trustees going to be appointed, and has a decision been made on what to do with the TTF?
It was approved in Privy Council this morning for the payment of the salaries of lawyers in the USA who are carrying out investigation into the status of the TTF.
Has a decision been passed on whether we should accept the $12 million that they offered, or to give the American company another five years?
No decision has been made, and things are on halt until these lawyers have completed their investigation.
You were very much involved with the establishment of the Pacific Forum. The Forum continues to play a bigger role in the development of the region. Would it be possible to become something like the European Union with one currency, passport, trade and even with a regional Parliament. What do you think about the development of the Forum?
They are effectively helping each other at the moment, but new ideas may be introduced and discussed at their meetings, but we should continue to assist each other in the best and the most effective way that we can.
Education has been something that you have paid very special attention to, and we are about to open the new Ha‘apai High School?
The Ha‘apai High School will be opened next week, but China will continue to assist with the building of new Tonga High School complex. The people who built the Ha‘apai High School will move down here to Tongatapu.
Are we going ahead with the National University?
Yes, and a plot of land has already been set aside for that. The ideal location is that it should be close to where satellite dishes are installed, the university should be within two kilometres from the satellite dishes.
So the university will be in Nuku‘alofa?
The satellite dishes will be at Mataki‘eua, and the land that has been allocated is Tapuvao, opposite Sia‘atoutai.
You have been working on the projects to set up markets in Hawai‘i and Pago Pago for Tongan products, and at the same time developing Nuku‘alofa to be the centre for shipping in the Pacific. Big container ships will call in and drop off the containers for the region?
They are filling up that area at the moment, and it will be the biggest container storage in the region.
The state of the world economy at the moment is depressing. The USA is in a recession, so are major world economies, and here in Tonga the inflation is going up, and the value of the Tongan pa‘anga is dropping, what will happen if the pa‘anga continues to lose its value?
There are things to be done but it has not been easy to make it happen. Now there is this new kind of talo for export to Japan, and there has been discussion on the possibility for the assembling of a kind of fishnet to stop sharks from getting into American beaches and attacking people. If a work place like that will be established here, it will offer employment for the people so that they can earn a living. They will pay us with American dollars, and we will earn Japanese yens from squash. Once all these projects are in operation everyone in Tonga should have a job.
With regards to the refuge seekers who are trying to enter Australia?
I think once they restore peace to Afghanistan there will be no more refugees from that part of the world. They would like to return to Afghanistan to rebuild their country, and they will be assisted by the UN to rebuild their country. They are only running away because of the war, but once the war is over they will go back to their country.
The same thing will be probably happen to the Chinese who at the moment are doing anything to get out of their country, but once they are allowed free movement, they may just go back to their country?
Yes, something like that may happen, but China is developing to become one of the richest countries in Asia.
One of the most outstanding things that has happened recently was the puchase by TongaSat of its own satellite in orbit?
Yes, it is good, and there is a continuing negotiation with other countries to ascertain that their satellites and ours do not interfere with each other.
We are at the end of the first year of the 21st century, and are you happy with how things are going?
Yes, we are in a good position and if we can establish a business relationship with the Arabs it will further strengthen our economy. They have a lot of oil reservoirs and if we can strike a good deal they could supply in bulk with refined oil.
It was just after we celebrated the giving of Tonga to God by Tupou I when we were told of the interest of the Arabs to talk business with us.
With regards to the giving of Tonga to God at Pouono, I think its significance is very difficult to be understood by some people?
In the early days the Germans were very strong in the region, and they established trading posts around the region. At that time they were the strongest country in Europe, but then they had a desire to build a strong navy to beat the British. But in 1900 it was decided between the two European powers to swap, the Germans to give up all their right of claim to Tonga to the British in return for the British right of claim to Samoa. That was the beginning of our relationship with the British, and so that by the first and the second world wars we were already securely on the winning side of the wars. The significant thing about the giving of Tonga to God at Pouono was that it was through divine guidance Tonga moved from Germany and was securely under the winning side of the British.
So it was through the strong belief of the King in God that guided Tonga?
Yes, because nobody knew what was going to happen, but we were guided there.