Diplomatic mission is a group of people from one state or an international inter-governmental organisation (such as the United Nations) present in another state to represent the sending state/organisation in the receiving state. In practice, a diplomatic mission usually denotes the permanent mission, namely the office of a country's diplomatic representatives in the capital city of another country.

A permanent diplomatic mission is typically known as an embassy or chancery, and the person in charge of the mission is known as an ambassador. The ambassadorial residence is generally called the embassy. In Tonga, there is a Japanese Embassy and a Chinese Embassy in-residence.

All missions to the United Nations are known simply as permanent missions, while EU Member States' missions to the European Union are known as permanent representations and the head of such a mission is typically both a permanent representative and an ambassador. European Union missions abroad are known as EU delegations. Tonga has a permanent mission to the United Nations in New York.

Missions between Commonwealth countries are known as high commissions and their heads are high commissioners. This is due to the fact that ambassadors are exchanged between foreign countries, but since the beginning of the Commonwealth, member countries have nominally maintained that they are not foreign to one another (the same reason as the naming of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office). Tonga has foreign high commissions in residence: Australian and New Zealand High Commissions. Tonga also have diplomatic representatives or missions in Australia (Canberra) , United Kingdom (London), New Zealand (Wellington) and China (Beijing).

A consulate is similar to (but not the same as) a diplomatic office, but with focus on dealing with individual persons and businesses, as defined by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. A consulate or consulate general is generally a representative of the embassy in locales outside of the capital city. For instance, Tonga has its San Francisco Consulate, in California but also has a Consulate representative in Hawaii, in addition to the Permanent mission in New York. The person in charge of a consulate or consulate-general is known as a consul or consul-general, respectively. Similar services may also be provided at the embassy (to serve the region of the capital) in what is sometimes called a consular section.

In cases of dispute, it is common for a country to recall its head of mission as a sign of its displeasure. This is less drastic than cutting diplomatic relations completely, and the mission will still continue operating more or less normally, but it will now be headed by a chargé d'affaires (usually the deputy chief of mission) who may have limited powers. (A chargé d'affaires ad interim also heads the mission during the interim between the end of one chief of mission's term and the beginning of another).

The term "embassy" is often used to refer to the building or compound housing an ambassador's offices and staff. Technically, "embassy" refers to the diplomatic delegation itself, while the office building in which they work is known as a chancery, but this distinction is rarely used in practice. Ambassadors reside in ambassadorial residences, which enjoy the same rights as missions.

For more information, please contact the Tonga Ministry of Foreign Affairs on (676) 23 600 or email the Ministry of Information and Communications on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

ENDS

Issued by the: Ministry of Information and Communications, Nuku'alofa, 2010.