By Pesi Fonua

Canned pork, gifted to Tonga as part of Chinese emergency food aid delivery, became the source of a diplomatic incident between the development partners, after Tongan officials stopped the distribution of swine products.

Yesterday, Feb. 9, a cryptic press release from the Prime Minister's Office stated “Government of Tonga addresses misunderstanding”.

It went on to say that: “The Government of Tonga clarified a misunderstanding related to the recall of food items that were part of the Government of the People's Republic of China's emergency relief supplies.”

“The Government is of [sic] expressed profound regret over the said incident and has taken immediate steps to address the misunderstanding.”

However the press release gave no further details of the so called “said incident” or what steps were taken.

Animal Diseases Act

Meanwhile, it was understood from radio announcements in Tongatapu that the distribution of cans of swine meat was being stopped.

Dr Viliami Manu, the Chief Executive Officer for the Ministry of Agriculture told Matangi Tonga this morning, that he made the decision based on Tonga’s Animal Diseases Act 2020.

He said that he made a sincere apology to the Chinese Embassy for the restriction on their aid to Tonga at this difficult time, but he had a conviction that he “did what he had to do”.

Generous assistance

The Prime Minister’s Office yesterday stated that China was one of the first development partners to respond to Tonga's urgent request for assistance.

“The Government of Tonga remained deeply grateful to the People's Republic of China for its timely and generous assistance to the people of Tonga following the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano.”

However, it was not immediately clear whether or not any of the distributed swine meat was returned from the community or where it ended up.

Tonga is currently under a two weeks COVID lockdown and at the end of today, we had not been able to talk to anyone who had tasted a can of swine, nor anybody from the Chinese Embassy, or the Ministry of MEIDECC, which is responsible for Disaster Management.

FAO

Many countries restrict canned meat products from places [2] affected by the African swine fever (ASF), a viral disease that kills pigs.