Anote Tong

Born in Tabuaeran, Line Islands, he is the third of six children of Tong Ting Hai, a Chinese migrant who settled in the Gilberts after World War II, and Nei Keke Randolph, from the islands of Abaiang and Maiana in Kiribati.{{cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/11/09/1068329419844.html |title=Tiny Pacific islands play China using the Taiwan card |website=Theage.com.au |date=2003-11-10 |access-date=2015-12-07}} He went to St Bede's College in New Zealand for his secondary school education, graduated from Canterbury University with a degree in Science, and then gained a Masters in Economics degree from the London School of Economics.[http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0803/S00063.htm "World Environment Day guests confirmed"], New Zealand government press release, 5 March 2008; contains a brief biography of President Tong He is married to an I-Kiribati woman, Nei Meme Tong, and has seven children, among them his elder Vincent Tong, elected MP for Maiana in 2020. Tong considers himself originally from this island of Maiana, located in central Gilbert Islands.{{cite news|title=Parliament Nominates 3 Candidates for Kiribati President |url=http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org/pireport/2011/November/11-28-04.htm |work=The Kiribati Independent |publisher=East–West Center's Pacific Islands Report |date=25 November 2011 |access-date=2012-01-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212001741/http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org/pireport/2011/November/11-28-04.htm |archive-date=12 February 2015 }}

Tong entered politics in 1976 as an assistant secretary of the Ministry of Education, then served in the Ministry of Communications and Works in the 80s. Elected in 1994, at the Maneaba ni Maungatabu, he was nominated Minister for Environment and Natural Development by Teburoro Tito, and occupied this function until March 2002.{{cite web |url=http://www.pireport.org/articles/1998/10/12/observations-new-kiribati-parliament |title=OBSERVATIONS ON THE NEW KIRIBATI PARLIAMENT {{!}} Pacific Islands Report |website=www.pireport.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117080029/http://www.pireport.org/articles/1998/10/12/observations-new-kiribati-parliament |archive-date=2020-11-17}}

During the 2003 election campaign, he promised to review the lease of a spy and satellite tracking base used by the People's Republic of China and "to take appropriate actions at the right time."{{cite news|title=China severs diplomatic ties with Kiribati |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2003-11-29/china-severs-diplomatic-ties-with-kiribati/97836 |work=ABC |date=12 May 2019 |access-date=2019-05-12}}{{cite news|title=Kiribati report|url=https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2005/kiribati|work=Freedom House|date=12 May 2019|access-date=2019-05-12|archive-date=12 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190512125224/https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2005/kiribati|url-status=dead}} On 7 November 2003, the People's Republic of China withdrew its ambassador from the island nation, and on 29 November of the same year, ties between the two countries ceased. Kiribati established ties with the Republic of China,{{cite news |last1=Epstein |first1=Gady A. |title=Taiwan's Pacific power play |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2004-02-15-0402150047-story.html |access-date=23 April 2020 |work=Baltimore Sun |date=15 February 2004}} which led the People's Republic of China to sever relations and vacate its satellite base nearly a month later.

Tong was overwhelmingly re-elected to his seat in parliament in the August 2007 parliamentary election.[http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/23/asia/AS-POL-Kiribati-Election.php "Kiribati president returned at general election, likely will form new government"], Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), 23 August 2007. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070831001951/http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/23/asia/AS-POL-Kiribati-Election.php |date=31 August 2007 }} On 17 October 2007, he was re-elected as president by a large majority. The opposition boycotted the election due to the exclusion of two opposition candidates, including Tong's brother Harry.[http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s2063370.htm "Tong re-elected Kiribati president"], ABC Radio Australia, 18 October 2007.

Tong was re-elected to a third, and final, four-year term as president in the January 2012 election.{{cite news|title=Kiribati's Tong beats challengers to win third term |url=http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=65522 |work=Radio New Zealand International |date=14 January 2012 |access-date=2011-01-13}} Tong won a little over 40% of the popular vote. He defeated two challengers, including his nearest rival, Tetaua Taitai, by more than 2,000 votes.{{cite news|title=Kiribati report|url=https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/202010/kiribati%27s-tong-confident-of-parliament%27s-supporti|work=Radio New Zealand |publisher=Radio New Zealand |date=12 May 2019 |access-date=2019-05-12}} Tong reappointed Teima Onorio to a third term as Vice President of Kiribati on 19 January 2012, as part of his cabinet appointments for his third term.{{cite news |title=Kiribati President Appoints New Cabinet |url=http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org/pireport/2012/January/01-23-05.htm |work=Kiribati Independent |publisher=Pacific Islands Report |date=19 January 2012 |access-date=2011-01-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107232515/http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org/pireport/2012/January/01-23-05.htm |archive-date=7 January 2014 |url-status=dead }}

He retired from politics after the Kiribati parliamentary election, 2015–16.{{cite web|url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/293496/kiribati-getting-ready-for-second-round-of-elections |title=Kiribati getting ready for second round of elections | Radio New Zealand News |website=Radio NZ |date=2016-01-05 |access-date=2017-01-23}}

His son, Vincent Tong, is elected MP for Maiana during 2020 Kiribati parliamentary elections.

In the elections of 2020, Tong told Reuters that "it was the most aggressive campaign [he] had seen" in the country's history, and that though maintaining partiality since retiring from politics in 2016, Tong opined on the switching of recognition on the One-China policy that there were "some strong feelings against China in Kiribati".{{cite news |last1=Barret |first1=Jonathan |last2=Blanchard |first2=Ben |title=Fierce presidential election erupts in Pacific amid China-Taiwan tussle |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-kiribati-idUSKBN23Q0ZN |access-date=10 September 2022 |work=Reuters |date=19 June 2020}} In September 2022, amid the Kiribati constitutional crisis, Tong said that Kiribati was "moving towards authoritarianism", after the government withdrew from the Pacific Islands Forum and suspended all judges from its high and appellate courts, calling the moves "unprecedented".{{cite news |last1=Needham |first1=Kirsty |title=Kiribati moving towards authoritarianism, former president warns |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/kiribati-moving-towards-authoritarianism-former-president-warns-2022-09-07/ |access-date=10 September 2022 |work=Reuters |date=7 September 2022}}

A women's rights group, the Kiribati National Council of Women, has been formed recently for the primary purpose of advocating for a proposed new government entity, one that would be the Ministry of Women and Children.{{cite web |title=Measuring and responding to violence against women in Kiribati |url=http://www.wpro.who.int/topics/gender/country_case_measuring_and_responding_to_gender-based_violence_kir.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151014113857/http://www.wpro.who.int/topics/gender/country_case_measuring_and_responding_to_gender-based_violence_kir.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 October 2015 |website=Social determinants of health - United Nations |publisher=United Nations |access-date=12 May 2019}} A bill that among other actions would create this bureau passed through the House of Assembly of Kiribati on 23 August 2012 and reached the second round of voting, but was ultimately voted against due to a blurry outline on budgetary proportioning.{{cite web|url=http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=70449 |title=Kiribati women attempt again to push for Ministry of Women and Youth | Radio New Zealand News |website=Rnzi.com |date=2012-08-24 |access-date=2015-12-07}} After the National Council of Women voiced its discontent, President Tong stated that "the defeat was unfortunate, but it does not mean that we will not continue to support the women's issues. As a government, we will do it via other means, and perhaps it will come back to Parliament in the future."{{cite web|url=http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=70696 |title=Kiribati President promises support for women's issues, despite no ministry set up | Radio New Zealand News |website=Rnzi.com |date=2012-09-04 |access-date=2015-12-07}} This variably leaves the door open for women's rights to become an even greater issue than it already is in Kiribati.{{cite web|url=http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/countries/fiji/co/kiribati |title=Kiribati Women's UN Report |website=Asia Pacific United Nations |date=2019-08-12 |access-date=2019-05-12}} This Ministry was finally created in October 2013.

Tong also stood front and center in the push to create the Phoenix Islands Protected Area. Due partly to this effort, Tong received in 2012 a Peter Benchley Ocean Award for "creating one of the World's largest and most biologically rich marine protected areas."{{cite web|url=http://peterbenchleyoceanawards.org/honorees/2012/president-anote-tong-kiribati |title=President Anote Tong of Kiribati |publisher=Peter Benchley Ocean Awards |access-date=2017-01-23}} He has been criticized, however, due to his hesitation in closing the preserve to fishing.{{cite web|author=Christopher Pala |url=http://www.salon.com/2013/09/01/south_pacific_president_became_environmental_darling_by_lying_about_conservation_partner/ |title=Massive marine protected area is an even bigger sham |website=Salon.com |date=2013-09-01 |access-date=2017-01-23}}

Tong has been at the forefront of raising global awareness about catastrophic risks caused by climate change.{{cite news|url=https://time.com/4058851/kiribati-cliamte-change/|title=Meet the President Trying to Save His Island Nation From Climate Change|last=Worl|first=Justin|magazine=Time |access-date=2016-11-28}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/world/asia/climate-change-kiribati.html|title=A Remote Pacific Nation, Threatened by Rising Seas|last=Ives|first=Mike|date=2016-07-02|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=2016-11-28}} With his atoll nation of Kiribati rising an average height of two meters above sea level, rising sea levels due to climate change pose an existential threat to Kiribati and other small island states in the Pacific. Tong directed Kiribati's purchase of approximately 20 square kilometers of land in Fiji in 2014{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/01/kiribati-climate-change-fiji-vanua-levu|title=Besieged by the rising tides of climate change, Kiribati buys land in Fiji|last=Caramel|first=Laurence|date=2014-06-30|newspaper=The Guardian |language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=2016-11-28}} as a contingency refuge for his people. This follows advice from the IPCC following its fifth assessment that many Pacific Island states such as Kiribati could be submerged by rising sea levels within a few decades. Tong has said the purchase of land in Fiji was partly an investment in property, partly for food security purposes since it is prime farming land, but also a last resort it could be a home for the I-Kiribati people fleeing from the effects of climate change.{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21694548-south-pacific-climate-change-animates-presidential-election-making-waves|title=Making waves|date=2016-03-12|newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613|access-date=2016-11-28}} Anote Tong, dubbed as a 'climate warrior', pioneered the notion of 'migration with dignity' to avoid the people of Kiribati from becoming 'climate refugees'.{{Cite news|url=https://news.yahoo.com/climate-warrior-bows-kiribati-elects-leader-042120184.html|title=Climate warrior bows out as Kiribati elects new leader|newspaper=Yahoo! News|access-date=2016-11-28}}

Tong is responsible for a number of other initiatives to combat climate change and protect the environment, such as calling for a global moratorium on using coal in 2015,{{Cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-19/kiribati-president-urges-world-leaders-moratorium-coal-mines/6953930|title=President of Kiribati calls for global ban on all new coal mines|date=2015-11-19|newspaper=ABC News|language=en-AU|access-date=2016-11-28}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/19/kiribati-president-pushes-australia-to-back-moratorium-on-new-coalmines|title=Kiribati president pushes Australia to back moratorium on new coalmines|last=Davey|first=Melissa|date=2015-11-19|newspaper=The Guardian |language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=2016-11-28}} as well as overseeing the creation of a 480,250 square kilometer marine park, the largest protected marine area in the world. The marine park was later adopted as a UNESCO World Heritage List site (Phoenix Islands Protected Area, or PIPA).{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1325|title=Phoenix Islands Protected Area|last=Centre|first=UNESCO World Heritage|website=whc.unesco.org|language=en|access-date=2016-11-28}}

As part of his global advocacy on climate change, Tong has met with various world leaders to discuss the plight of small island states, including Pope Francis,{{Cite news|url=http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/02/05/pope_francis_meets_president_of_kiribati/1121698|title=Pope Francis meets President of Kiribati|access-date=2016-11-28}} US President Obama{{Cite news|url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/291117/pacific-island-leaders-meet-obama-in-paris|title=Pacific island leaders meet Obama in Paris|date=2015-12-02|newspaper=Radio New Zealand |access-date=2016-11-28}} and spoke recently before world leaders at the COP21 Paris meeting.{{cite web|url=http://unfccc.int/meetings/paris_nov_2015/items/9331.php|title=Statements made during the Leaders Event at the Paris Climate Change Conference|last=Change|first=United Nations Framework Convention on Climate|website=unfccc.int|access-date=2016-11-28}} Tong also currently serves on the board of Conservation International.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/president-tong-and-his-disappearing-islands|title=President Tong and His Disappearing Islands|date=2014-06-08|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=2016-11-28}}

On 24 October 2018, he gave an interview where expressed concerns that his nation "will soon be disappearing under the sea", he also said that the Island is disappearing but that the current President Taneti Maamau refuses to act on it.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theworldpost/wp/2018/10/24/kiribati/?noredirect=on|title=Our island is disappearing but the president refuses to act|date=2019-05-12|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2019-05-12}}

Also in October, 2018, he criticized Australia for "doing nothing" to solve the climate change issue. He was quoted as saying that: "We are being told that we may have to abandon our islands, the places where our ancestors have been buried, where our children have a home." and regretted that the United States had pulled out from the Paris Agreement.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2018/oct/10/while-my-island-nation-sinks-australia-is-doing-nothing-to-solve-climate-change|title=While my island nation sinks, Australia is doing nothing to solve climate change |date=2019-05-12|website=The Guardian |access-date=2019-05-12}}

In the aftermath of the COP26 climate summit, Tong said that "one weakness in the force of our campaign [for global climate action] has been the lack of unity in purpose with the larger members of our Pacific family. It has been a huge source of disappointment for us to witness the constant changes of climate policies with the eddies of political parties in power, in both Australia and New Zealand."{{cite news |last1=O'Malley |first1=Nick |last2=Perkins |first2=Miki |title=Australia, Pacific big brother or big bully? |url=https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/australia-pacific-big-brother-or-big-bully-20211103-p595kk.html |access-date=22 November 2021 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |date=22 November 2021}}

Tong has been awarded leadership and environmental prizes for his work both in environmental protection and his advocacy on climate change and its effects. For example, Tong was awarded the 2015 Sunhak Peace Prize,{{cite web|url=http://sunhakprize.com/eng/sp.php?p=23#|title=Sunhak Peace Prize|website=sunhakprize.com|access-date=2016-11-28}} and in 2012 both the Leadership Award from the Hillary Institute of International Leadership{{cite web|url=http://www.hillaryinstitute.com/anote-tong/|title=Anote Tong|website=Hillary Institute|access-date=2016-11-28}} and the Peter Benchley Ocean Award.{{cite web|url=http://peterbenchleyoceanawards.org/honorees/category|title=Honorees, by category {{!}} Peter Benchley Ocean Awards|website=peterbenchleyoceanawards.org|access-date=2016-11-28}} Tong has also been awarded a number of other awards such as the Order of Brilliant Jade with Grand Cordon by the President of Taiwan (2009), and the David B. Stone Award by the New England Aquarium Foundation (2008).{{cite web|url=http://www.worldsummit2017.org/sunhak-peace-prize/laureates/anote-tong|title=Anote Tong Foundation |website=Word Summit 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170617205837/http://www.worldsummit2017.org/sunhak-peace-prize/laureates/anote-tong |archive-date=17 June 2017 |url-status=dead}}

During his term of office (2003–2016), he developed the country's commitment to climate change. He is the founder of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, one of the world's largest marine conservation areas that has also been recorded on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Anote Tong is board member of Conservation International, and was previously an ambassador for the Global Challenges Foundation.{{cite web |title=Global Challenges Foundation |url=https://globalchallenges.org/ |access-date=2019-05-12 |website=Global Challenges Foundation}}

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• {{TED speaker}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081216022321/http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/449/index.html NOW on PBS: 'Paradise Lost']
• [http://www.abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=3002001&page=1 ABC News: President of Kiribati: 'Our Very Lives Are At Stake']
• [https://www.un.org/ga/63/generaldebate/kiribati.shtml Address to the 63rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly], 25 September 2008
• [https://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/world/this-country-might-be-under-water-in-30-years/2014/06/16/88c38d66-f5a3-11e3-930d-ca5db8eb8323_video.html This country might be under water in thirty years], The Washington Post, 16 June 2014.

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Category:1952 births

Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics

Category:Government ministers of Kiribati

Category:Foreign ministers of Kiribati

Category:I-Kiribati people of Chinese descent

Category:Living people

Category:Members of the House of Assembly (Kiribati)

Category:People educated at St Bede's College, Christchurch

Category:People from Tabuaeran

Category:Pillars of Truth politicians

Category:I-Kiribati politicians of Chinese descent

Category:I-Kiribati environmentalists

Category:Presidents of Kiribati

Category:University of Canterbury alumni

Category:21st-century I-Kiribati politicians

Category:Recipients of orders, decorations, and medals of French Polynesia