Tongan PM Welcomes Beijing ‘Security’ Personnel at Pacific Islands Forum

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, shakes hands with Tonga's Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni in Nuku'alofa, Tonga on July 26, 2023. Tupou Vaipulu/Pool Photo via AP

Tonga has welcomed an offer from Beijing to assist with security at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders’ meeting in August, alarming Australian authorities who view the move as further evidence of a plan to embed Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officers and training teams in police forces across the South Pacific.

Tonga’s Police Commissioner Shane McLennan has confirmed that six officers from Beijing’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS), came from Shandong Province and were “following up” on a meeting between CCP personnel and South Pacific police ministers and chiefs in December 2023.

While the MPS delegation had a broader agenda around police cooperation, Mr. McLennan confirmed the primary focus was on how Beijing police could help Tonga host the Forum.

“We are looking at assistance with resources ... primarily centred around vehicles and motorcycles for Tonga police, and potentially some training in motorcade operations, all focused on security operations for PIF,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

Likely, Beijing will also donate police vehicles and motorbikes to Tonga—as it has to the Solomon Islands—along with refurbishing and developing venues for the leaders’ meetings, assisting with transport for visiting dignitaries, and possibly providing audio-visual equipment.

NZ, Australia Already Providing Security Assistance

Late last year Commissioner McLennan told Tonga radio that New Zealand and Australia already offered “good, structured” assistance and training, and said that he would only allow Beijing to embed police among his officers if they provided help that was not already available.

“That remains my assessment, but there are discussions around what the MPS may still be able to assist with,” he also told the ABC.

Australia already runs several programs with police in Tonga, including a recent collaboration with Samoan police to help local officers develop close personal protection skills.

Tongan Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni said there was nothing to fear from Beijing’s offer, despite the United States urging regional governments not to strike security pacts with Beijing.

“There’s no reason to be concerned,” he said “China is offering to assist with the hosting of the foreign leaders’ meeting. If it’s training and if the [Tonga] police deem it to be necessary, of course we will take up the offer.”

A Tongan government website published a photograph of the six Beijing officials meeting with Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni last week.

Meanwhile, Beijing has already embedded a China Police Liaison Team (CPLT) in the Solomon Islands, and uniformed Chinese officers are now working with their counterparts in another South Pacific nation Kiribati.

Beijing Pushing Influence into the South

The moves by the CCP to make itself a natural partner to smaller Pacific islands are of concern to Australia and the United States, who have privately warned that Beijing could use its presence to monitor both Chinese expatriates and local elites.

Australia’s Minister for the Pacific Pat Conroy recently said Beijing should have “no role” in policing Pacific island states, saying that security assistance should be provided by other members of the “Pacific family” including Australia and New Zealand.

That message seems to have reached Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka who last week confirmed that he had ordered Chinese officers in his country’s police force to leave, although he did not cancel a broader policing agreement with Beijing.

On the other hand, Nauru President David Adeang made a high-profile visit to China last week, when he praised CCP leader Xi Jinping and told state television that some of Nauru’s “traditional partners”—a clear reference to Australia—had “challenged” his country to “choose your friends and take sides.”