The Embassy of China in Tonga is refusing to comment on an aircraft it gifted the kingdom after the New Zealand government reportedly suspended aid, saying the plane is not safe.
The New Zealand Foreign Minister, Murray McCully, has told Television New Zealand it has suspended millions of dollars of tourism aid until the plane gets international certification.
The MA60 aircraft was gifted to the airline Real Tonga for domestic flights.
Television New Zealand reported that since 2009 there have been 11 serious incidents involving MA60s, three of them in the last two months.
