Britain will reestablish its diplomatic mission in Tonga during the coming years, Lopeti Senituli an adviser to Tonga’s Prime Minister, Hon. ‘Akilisi Pohiva confirmed this morning, 24 April.

Lopeti said that the British Minister of State for Asia and Pacific, Rt Hon. Mark Field had formally informed the Tongan Prime Minister of the British plan during a bilateral meeting at the Intercontinental Park Lane hotel, London on 18 April.

The British closed down its High Commission in Nuku’alofa in 2006.

The announcement by Britain’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on 19 April that the UK will be opening up diplomatic mission in nine countries: Lesotho, Swaziland, the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Gernada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu was seen in different ways.

Some interpreted the move to be a concrete pre-Brexit indications of how the UK is looking to position itself globally, but Boris Johnson announced that the UK is expanding its diplomatic network for three reasons: boosting prosperity, addressing security issues, and for environmental protection purposes.