Resident diplomats present credentials to King Tupou VI [1]
Thursday, May 13, 2021 - 16:59. Updated on Thursday, May 13, 2021 - 17:07.
By Eleanor Gee
Japan’s new Ambassador to Tonga, HE Mr Munenaga Kensaku and the new British High Commissioner, Lucy Joyce, presented their Letters of Credence to HM King Tupou VI at the Royal Palace on 12 May.
The credentials were presented in a formal ceremony. This is the first Diplomatic Week held since January 2020, when COVID-19 impacted international travel restricting diplomatic visits to Tonga.
The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan was accompanied by his wife, Madam Munenaga Yoshiko, when presenting his credentials.
They arrived in Tonga on 19 November last year. HE Munenaga is the fifth resident Ambassador of Japan to Tonga succeeding the role of HE Mr Ishii Tetsuya.
Japan and Tonga celebrate 51 years of diplomatic relations this year.
in a statement today, the Ambassador said, “The Tongan Royal family and the Japanese Imperial family have established a warm friendship over the years, and as the only remaining royal family in the South Pacific, the Japanese Imperial family greatly values their friendship.
"I realized that the close relationship between Tonga and Japan has been nurtured through mutual visits between them and it has not changed even under the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We still cannot see any sign that the situation is settling down, and this difficult time is still expected to remain unchanged. However, Tonga has already started vaccination and I strongly believe that the situation is going to improve in the future. I and the Embassy of Japan would like to consider what we can do and what we have to do under the pandemic, taking the future after the pandemic into account,” he said.
United Kingdom reopens High Commission
The British diplomatic service has returned to Tonga after a 15-year absence.
Career diplomat, Lucy Rebecca Joyce (OBE) is the first resident British High Commissioner, under the renewed relationship. “I am delighted and honoured to have presented credentials today to His Majesty King Tupou VI, and to be officially re-opening the British High Commission in Nuku’alofa, Tonga,” she stated on 12 May.
“The UK and the Kingdom of Tonga have strong historical links, not least between our respective Royal Families, and I look forward to engaging across a wide range of bilateral and international issues.”
The new resident High Commissioner arrived in Tonga early this year.