China and tsunami-hit Tonga hold aid ceremony on eve of Blinken Pacific meeting
- China hands over machinery to Tonga as island nation grapples with Covid-19 and natural disaster aftermath
- US secretary of state to travel to Fiji on Saturday to reassure Pacific island leaders in a video meeting that Washington and its allies are committed to the region
A handover ceremony for more than 110 pieces of machinery, including bulldozers, trucks and excavators sent from China before last month’s volcanic eruption and tsunami, was held on Friday. The equipment is a gift from Beijing.
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New images reveal scale of damage after volcano eruption in the Pacific off Tonga
“These machines arrived at the right time and will be critical in the national reconstruction in the wake of the disasters,” said Chinese ambassador Cao Xiaolin in a live-streamed ceremony outside Tonga’s Infrastructure Ministry.
A Tongan official said the machinery would be used on most of Tonga’s development projects, including roads and foreshore construction.
“Strong political will and perseverance is the two strong forces that keep us in contact and makes us much stronger,” Tongan cabinet secretary Edgar Cocker said at the ceremony, thanking Beijing.
