By Pesi Fonua

Tonga's continued support of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, is very much appreciated by the administration in Washington, the U.S. Ambassador to Tonga, Larry M. Dinger said in Nuku'alofa last week.

"We are very thankful, that the government of Tonga and the Tonga Defence Services have taken the kind of internationalist view on the role that the TDS can play to make a world a more peaceful place to live in. . . The Tongan government and the TDS wanted to be excellent international citizens," he said.

"What the Tongans have done, no non U.S. force has ever done in Baghdad. They perform superbly, and we welcome Tonga's continued participation. It is a great contribution and it reflects very positively on the country," said Amb. Dinger.

"It certainly increases the visibility of Tonga at the policy level in Washington.

"As an example, is the visiting USS Reuben James FFG57. This is a visible way of the U.S. military saying 'thank you', and while it looks like an ordinary ship, but there are 220 people out there who are in Nuku'alofa spending money, so it is very good for the economy. And that is the visible manifestation of the sort of things that can happen."

 

 

 

Constructive effort

With regards to a regional concern that the Asian powers of China and Japan are replacing the West in the Pacific Region, Amb. Dinger said a lot of foreign actors are taking an interest in the region, "the British, the Europeans, the Australians and the New Zealanders have been active in the region for many years, and I think it is inevitable that Japan is taking a strong stance.

"Inevitably, China will become more active in the region as it becomes strong economically to interact in the region. I don't think Washington sees it as a problem. What we want is a constructive role. The China and Taiwan competition that we have seen happen here in Tonga and I remember 1998 when suddenly things switched. That competition at times has not been productive, it has oriented assistance for the wrong direction and the wrong reasons. But if it is constructive effort to actually assist the real needs of the region, that is fine with us."

Amb. Dinger pointed out that the U.S.A. is a part of the region, "we have several territories in the region and there is an increase in our involvement in the region. We have our own election coming up, and there is going to be a new team in place, because Bush and Cheney are not running again, but whatever is the outcome, Democratic or Republican, there will be a new team in power.

"In the United States our interests don't change much, and I think we will continue with a lot of things. The region is geo-strategically very important. The sea-lanes are very important. Our relations with all these nations, who all have a vote in the United Nations is very important, we want to maintain a normal relationship with them," he said.

Political evolution

"We will continue to encourage the political evolution in Tonga to whatever system Tongans aspire to, we will continue to urge economic rehabilitation in this age of globalisation, I think that gives the only economic direction that the economy can thrive in. We will continue to stress the importance of Human Rights, we think it is important, so is the freedom of media."

Amb. Dinger stressed that the United does not dictate what type of democracy a country should have.

"We have our presidential, congressional republic, while other nations have a parliament. Every country has its own form. The U.S.A. believes that the people need to have the capacity to chose the leadership, which over time will bring about the power to the people.

With regards to Tonga's political evolution Amb. Dinger said, "I am an optimist, and I think there are going to be a lot of challenges but I hope that the very best people will contribute to the political process. I hope the best people will run for office and campaign hard for the coming election."

Amb. Dinger, who is based in Fiji, was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of the Fiji Islands, the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of Nauru, the Kingdom of Tonga, and Tuvalu on July 22, 2005.