Tonga’s Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni underscored the role of police to provide “freedom from fear” in democracies in a speech to Pacific Islands police chiefs today, noting the rising global focus on the region by major powers.

A top U.S. counter-narcotics official will travel on Wednesday to Tonga, where the first U.S.- Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police dialogue will be held on the sidelines of the regional police body’s annual conference.

China, with police in the Solomon Islands and Kiribati, is seeking to expand its policing role in the Pacific, prompting concern from U.S. ally Australia, which will fund a A$400 million ($269.60 million) plan to boost training and create a mobile unit of Pacific Islands police, to cut the need for external forces.

In a keynote speech to police chiefs today, Sovaleni said the Pacific Ocean had become “a pivotal arena” for global interests, and the role of policing was evolving rapidly.

“It is not just about safety and security, it is about freedom from fear and the liberty this gives people – freedom to chase their dreams, trusting our democratic institutions and processes from undue influence and interference,” he said.

The conference will decide how to implement the Pacific Policing Initiative, funded by Australia and approved by leaders of the 18-member Pacific Islands Forum last week.

China failed in 2022 to reach a security agreement with 10 out of 18 members of the forum, whose full membership includes Australia, three nations who recognise Taipei, as well as French territories and island states with defence ties to the United States.

External partners wanting to assist with resources must go through the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police framework, Sovaleni added.

U.S. Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Todd Robinson, will travel to Tonga on Wednesday, U.S. officials said.

Robinson is a key figure in the U.S. response to its fentanyl crisis, and said in congressional testimony last year the synthetic drug is trafficked through Mexico using diverted precursor chemicals sourced from China.

Two Chinese nationals suspected of involvement in a fentanyl supply syndicate were expelled by Fiji and arrested by the FBI in Hawaii last year.

The U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said in Vanuatu last week, after meeting Pacific Island leaders, that Washington will work with the region to rein in drug trafficking by criminal networks using it as a way station for narcotics exports to the United States.