WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st July, 2023) The United States is opening an embassy on the island nation of Tonga but not in an attempt to counter Chinese influence, a US State Department official said on Thursday.
"On Tonga, our embassy is not being set up to counter China," the State Department official told reporters.
However, strategic competition is a reality in the Indo-Pacific region, the official also said.
The US presence in Tonga will expand in the future, but the expansion is not linked to China's activities there, the official added.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to visit Tonga later this month as part of a trip to the region, which also includes stops in Australia and New Zealand.
Blinken will dedicate the new US Embassy in Nuku'alofa and will hold talks with Tongan officials, according to the State Department.
