1970:
The Kingdom of Tonga got back full sovereignty and simultaneosly became the 29th member of the British Commonwealth on June 4th 1970. The solemn declaration of independance was held in the capitol Nuku'alofa on Tongatapu. Prince William of Gloucester attended the celebretion as representative of Queen Elizabeth II..
1972:
On the 10th of April 1972 Taiwan and the Kingdom of Tonga announced the establishing
of diplomatic relations.
1977:
On the 1st of June 1977 a treaty of friendship between the Kingdom of Tonga and the Federal Republic of Germany was signed, that follows the treaty of the 1st November 1876.
1982:
On the 3th of March 1982 the tropical cyclone 'Isaac' devestated numerous of the
171 islands of the archipelago.
The island groups of Ha'apai and Vava'u were hit worst. People were killed
and injured, 45.000 people became homeless and 95% of the livestock was
killed. The King of Tonga Taufa'ahau TUPOU IV. designated the cyclone as the
worst natural desaster in the history of his kingdom, that mainly lives on
the export of copra and bananas.
1987:
On the 20th of February the crown prince of the Kingdom of Tonga TUPOUTOA,
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defence was welcomed by the Soviet Minister
for Foreign Affairs Eduard SCHEWARDNADSE in Moscau. SCHEWARDNADSE emphasized
the necessity to resist those who build their own security at the expanse of
the security of others. The risk of such a game, the survival of man, would
be too high. He further said that the Soviet Union would stand up for
preventing that the Asian-Pacific Region becomes an arena for military-political
confrontations, instead of being included in the process of setting up a
comprehensive system of international security. The
Treaty of Rarotonga would be a real contribution
to this process. The Soviet Union supports the aims of the treaty he explained
and called on other nuclear power states to do anything to save the
nuclear-free status of the South Pacific. (see footnote a.)
Both ministers declared correspondingly to continue the dialog for the sake of
developing the bilateral relations, expansion of mutual trade as well as
stabilization of peace and international security.
footnote a: On the 26th of February, six days after this meeting, the United Kingdom announced that it would not sign the protocols of the Treaty of Rarotonga, following the example of the USA and France.
1993
The 45.000 citizens entitled to vote were called to elect nine of the
thirty members of the Tongan Parliament on the 4th of February.
While, according to the tongan constitution, King
Taufa'ahau TUPOU IV. and his
crown council, that simultaneously act as cabinet, hold twelve seats
permanently in the representation of people, nine members are appointed by
the tongan nobel families and only nine members of the Parliament are
determined by the people.
The current election showed the growing influence of political groups, that
support the abolition of the present system and the democratization of
Tonga: six of the nine mandates went to candidates of the reform movement
People's Democratic Movement (PDM), that is led by the professor and publisher
of the progressive monthly magazine Ko e Kele'a (Sound of the Seashell)
Akilisi POHIVA, and supports the elaboration of a new constitution as well
as the curtailment of the privileges of the monarch; here he receives support
by influential representative of the church. POHIVA, who is a member of the
Parliament since 1987 and whose mandate was renewed in 1990 with a majority
of 73% of the votes, was reelected in the current election in his
electoral district Tongatapu.