The Guardian reports Cao Xiaolin told a gathering in Nuku'alofa - a rare opportunity for journalists to question Chinese officials - that preferential loans from China came with "no political strings attached" and that Beijing would never force countries to repay the loans.
Tonga, which was hit by a volcanic eruption and tsunami in January, has external debt of $US195 million, or 36 percent of its GDP, of which two-thirds is owed to China's Exim Bank.
