The United States and Chinese embassies in Tonga have publicly clashed over whether an alleged arranged-marriage syndicate that recruited young Tongan women to China constitutes human trafficking.

Lisa, which is not her real name, returned home to Tonga last week after nine months in China.  (ABC News: Marian Kupu)

The disagreement follows recent reports by Kaniva News and other Pacific media that several women had been enticed to China with promises of marriage, financial security and the opportunity to support their families—only to allegedly encounter circumstances substantially different from those presented to them in Tonga.

Following the initial reports, the ABC interviewed several Tongan women connected to the alleged arrangements.

Woman alleges passport was confiscated

One of the women, identified by the ABC under the pseudonym Lisa, said she travelled to China in October 2025 after being offered an opportunity to marry a Chinese man and build a better life.

The 23-year-old said she had been told that her living expenses would be covered and she would be able to send money home to her family in Tonga.

However, she alleged that the circumstances she encountered after arriving in China were substantially different from what she had been promised.

“I felt as though I [was] something that had been bought and sold,” she told the ABC.

Lisa said she was introduced to several men who were different from those shown to her before she left Tonga.

Tongan student Tapenisa Mahe, who assisted with translation and supported Lisa, said different families came to see the young woman and decide whether they wanted her.

Ms Mahe described the process as resembling an auction.

The ABC reported that it had seen WeChat conversations discussing payments of about $20,000 connected to the marriage arrangements. However, it said it remained unclear who received the money or what it was intended to cover.

Lisa alleged that her passport was later confiscated and that her husband’s family pressured her to have a baby and to work, despite her not holding a work visa.

After she sought a divorce, Lisa said she was confined to a separate room and neglected.

“There were times when I became so hungry that I drank water from the bathroom just to stay alive,” she told the ABC.

Ms Mahe later provided Lisa with a safe place to stay, helped her leave the household and assisted in arranging her return to Tonga after nine months in China.

Organisers reject allegations

The ABC identified Tongan woman Maata Aso and Chinese national Shulan Fang, also known as “Auntie Julie”, as people involved in arranging the women’s travel and prospective marriages.

Ms Aso rejected allegations that the women had been mistreated or that she had received payments from the arrangements.

She said the women had chosen to travel to China and that many Tongan women were happily married there.

“The reasons Tongan women come to China are different,” she told the ABC. “Some come to get married, some come because they’re poor, and some come looking for a better life.”

Ms Aso said Ms Fang initially covered the women’s expenses, which were later expected to be repaid by the prospective husbands’ families.

The Chinese Embassy previously characterised the cases as “transnational marriage disputes”, saying differences in language, culture and lifestyle could create difficulties in cross-border marriages.

It also said Chinese police, the Tongan Embassy and Tongan students in China had helped two women return to Tonga.

US expert identifies ‘classic signs’

This week, the US Embassy in Nukuʻalofa publicised an assessment by Reverend Dr Sandra Morgan, executive director of the Global Center for Women and Justice, who said the reported circumstances constituted human trafficking.

“Yes. It’s classic signs … grooming and recruiting, luring the girls with a promise of a wedding, a bride price that would help their families,” Dr Morgan said during her recent visit to Tonga.

“Then when they get there, it’s not what they thought it would be.”

The US Embassy said it stood with survivors and vulnerable communities and, alongside Tonga, would continue fighting for “dignity, accountability, and justice across the Pacific”.

Embassy warns against premature conclusions

However, the Chinese Embassy in Nukuʻalofa yesterday reiterated the position it took in July, when the allegations were first reported, saying Chinese police had found no evidence of human trafficking.

Without naming the US Embassy directly, it accused “a certain diplomatic mission in Tonga” of risking the spread of misinformation and disinformation through its public statements.

The embassy said China firmly opposed all forms of human trafficking and was actively involved in combating what it described as a global challenge.

“Public assertions made before investigations reach definitive findings are irresponsible,” the Chinese Embassy said.

“Statements issued by a certain diplomatic mission in Tonga under such circumstances risk circulating misinformation, even disinformation, which does no good to protecting the interests of parties involved and advancing investigations.”

It said all public comments should be based on solid facts and evidence.

How the United Nations defines human trafficking

Under Article 3 of the United Nations’ Palermo Protocol, to which both China and the United States are parties, trafficking in persons involves recruiting, transporting, transferring, harbouring or receiving people through force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or vulnerability, or the use of payments or benefits to obtain the consent of someone controlling another person—for the purpose of exploitation.

Exploitation includes sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude and the removal of organs.

For cases involving adults, the UN definition generally requires three elements:

• An act, such as recruiting, transporting, transferring, harbouring or receiving a person.
• A means, such as deception, fraud, coercion, force or abuse of vulnerability.
• A purpose, involving the exploitation of that person.

Human trafficking does not require abduction, illegal travel or an unlawful border crossing. A person may initially agree to travel or marry but still become a trafficking victim if deception, coercion or another prohibited means is used for the purpose of exploitation.

The protocol also provides that a victim’s consent to the intended exploitation is irrelevant when any of the prohibited means has been used.

In the reported Tonga–China cases, recruiting and transporting the women could potentially satisfy the act element. Allegedly misleading promises concerning the prospective husbands, marriage arrangements and financial benefits could constitute the means of deception, while forced labour or servitude, if established, could satisfy the exploitation element.