Beijing on Jan. 18 established the Tonga Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China, an organization to promote the Chinese government's "One China" policy in the small South Pacific island. Nearly 150 representatives from Chinese-funded agencies in Tonga, as well as Chinese experts working in the country and overseas, attended the founding ceremony. The council stresses there is only one China, and it firmly opposes Taiwanese attempts to separate. The council supports an early peaceful reunification of China under the one-China principle. Beijing's increased political activity in Oceania illustrates China's anxiety following Kiribati's recent defection to Taipei, but also could mean that Tonga might be the new home of China's space-tracking station. China uses ship-based tracking stations in the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific oceans and ground stations in China, Namibia and — until recently — Kiribati.