The following is attributable to Spokesperson Ned Price:
Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met today with Tupou VI, King of Tonga, in Nuku’alofa, Tonga, to celebrate 50 years of bilateral relations between the United States and Tonga. The Deputy Secretary and King Tupou VI discussed Tonga’s efforts to recover from the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption and tsunami which devastated the nation in January, for which the United States has provided $2.6 million in support. Deputy Secretary Sherman highlighted the U.S. commitment to enhanced engagement with Tonga, including Vice President Harris’s announcement at the July Pacific Islands Forum that the U.S. will work to open an embassy in Nuku’alofa.