Peace Without Poison

4 December 2014ʻAhoʻeitu ʻUnuakiʻotonga Tukuʻaho TupouKing of Tongaenquiries@mic.gov.to, tongaunmission@aol.cominfo@thekingdomoftonga.com, info@finance.gov.toSialeʻataongo TuʻivakanōPrime Minister of Tongahttp://www.tongaeducation.gov.to/mainweb/index.php/contacthttp://www.mic.gov.to/contact-ushttps://www.facebook.com/tongaKing Tupou VI and Prime Minister Tuʻivakanō,851 | P a g eRe: depopulation measuresTonga joined the Global Depopulation Policy in 1963 and the total fertility rate has declinedfrom 7.3 to 3.4 children per woman to date. To the government’s credit, there is no evidence ofcovert, coerced or involuntary sterilizations and no evidence of covert methods of fertilitysuppression either.The decline in fertility has been accomplished through education and the provision of familyplanning services. The contraceptive methods favored by Tongans are injections with Depo-Provera, the pill, condoms, surgical sterilizations, and natural methods. The number of childrenborn to every woman reflects the ideal family size in Tonga and this shows that the governmentrespects and protects the people’s reproductive rights, which is a rare and precious thing intoday’s genocide-ridden world.Unlike most nations on earth, Tonga has refrained from poisoning its people into sterility orsubfertility for two reasons. First, Tonga never lost its sovereignty to a foreign power and hasalways remained in control and preserved indigenous governance. It is in fact the only Pacificnation to have escaped colonization. And second, Tonga has been protected from outsideinterference by its small size and geographic isolation.Because Tongans have never been subjected to covert methods of depopulation – be theychemical, biological, bacteriological, psychosocial or economic – the people are healthy and, as aUNICEF 2006 study concluded, “the education and health status of both children and women inTonga is one of the best in the South Pacific”.