Island asylum

摘要

SEVERAL hundred years ago, the Pacific island state of Fiji was a place of refuge for exiled princes from neighbouring Tonga. Now it is Tonga that serves as a destination for Fiji's blue-blooded asylumseekers. Roko Tevita Uluilakeba Mara, the youngest son of the modern state's founder, the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, fled by sea, with the Tongan navy's help. He is now under the protection of the homburgwearing Tongan monarch, King George Tupou V, a distant relative of Mr Mara's father. The contrasting switches of fortune do not end there. Tonga, long an autocratic monarchy, took a giant stride towards democracy in November, when the country chose its first elected government. Meanwhile Fiji has lurched towards ever more authoritarian rule. Draconian publicemergency regulations have been in force, with few letups, since a military coup in December 2006.