Tonga ratifies nuclear test ban treaty amid China missile debacle

Tonga has become the 179th state to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).

The ratification was formalised on Tuesday at a ceremony at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Tonga's permanent representative to the UN Viliami Va'inga Tōnē said this is just a legal formality but a statement of who they are and what they stand for.

"The Pacific has felt the pain of nuclear testing. Ratifying the CTBT is our contribution to ensuring that no one, anywhere, has to go through that again," he said.

The Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) said the ratification reflects Crown Prince Tupoutoʻa ʻUlukalala's strong commitment to international peace and security.

Robert Floyd, CTBTO executive secretary, said Tonga's ratification is "a meaningful contribution to the global effort to ban nuclear test explosions for good".

Tonga is also a party to the Treaty of Rarotonga, which established the South Pacific Nuclear-Free Zone in 1985, and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

The CTBTO works to build up the verification regime of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in preparation for the treaty's entry into force, as well as promoting the treaty.

The CTBTO said with Tonga's signature and ratification, the treaty now counts 188 states signatories and 179 ratifying states.

Regional governments were notified by China shortly before it launched the test, on the same day that Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese went to Fiji to sign new treaties related to security and defence.

Australia and New Zealand accused China of undermining the peace and stability of the region, and of going against the values of Pacific Island countries as enshrined in the Pacific Forum's Ocean of Peace initiative.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the launch was consistent with international law and customary international practice and was not directed at any specific country or target.