U.S. Woos Pacific Nation Where China Has Stamped Its Mark

​NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga—When the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted last year, bringing ruin to this tiny island in the South Pacific, the U.S. raced to send desperately needed humanitarian aid. So did China.

The eruption was followed by a 50-foot tsunami that destroyed many of the homes on this archipelago located about 1,000 miles off the coast of New Zealand. Undersea cables were destroyed, limiting residents to only domestic phone calls. Diesel gas quickly became sparse and clean drinking water was almost impossible to find.