Secretary of State Antony Blinken dedicated a new U.S. Embassy on the Polynesian island of Tonga on Wednesday, warning there has been "problematic behavior" by China in the region.
Blinken was speaking at a joint news conference with Tongan Prime Minister Hu'akavameiliku in the Tongan capital of Nukuʻalofa, the first stop of a trip that also will see him visit New Zealand on Thursday, and Australia on Friday and Saturday.
China and Tonga have strengthened ties since the countries established diplomatic relations in 1998. Blinken was asked if the U.S. is late to the game, given Beijing's expanding influence on the island.
"We have no objection to the investments by or engagements by any other country [in Tonga], including China," Blinken said, according to a transcript of the news conference. "On the contrary, if it's done in a productive way, if it really is responsive to the needs of people. If it helps generate a race to the top with others who want to help out, that's a good thing.
"I think one of the things that we've seen is that as China's engagement in the region has grown, there has been some, from our perspective, increasingly problematic behavior, including at the same time the assertion of unlawful maritime claims — something that I've raised extensively when I was in China — the militarization of disputed features — for example, in the South China Seas, some predatory economic activities, and also investments that are done in a way that can actually undermine good governance and promote corruption," Blinken said, according to the transcript.
Blinken, who visited China in June, said it's not the U.S.' place to tell a sovereign country about whom they want to do business with or seek investments and aid.
"We respect those sovereign decisions," he said. "But again, we're concerned about some of the implications in the way that some of this investment is done. And I would hope that whether it's China or anyone else that we all do this according to the highest standards, and as I said, we have a race to the top, not a race to the bottom."
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