Anote Tong is the current President of Kiribati. He was first elected president in 2003, and he was re-elected in 2007.
Background
Anote Tong (in Chinese, 湯安諾; pinyin: Tāng Ānnuò — his family name is of Chinese origin but it is now considered as Gilbertese by Kiribati people) (born 1952) is he son of an Chinese migrant who settled in the Gilberts after World War II and of a Gilbertese woman.
He is married to a Kiribati woman named Meme and has seven children.
Education
He went to St Bede's College for his secondary school education.
He studied at Canterbury University and graduated with a degree in Science, and then gained a Masters in Economics degree from the London School of Economics.
Career
He won the election in July 2003 with a slim plurality of votes cast (47.4%) against his brother, Dr. Harry Tong (43.5%) and the private lawyer Banuera Berina (9.1%). The elections were contested by the opposition, due to allegations of electoral fraud but the High Court of Tarawa had confirmed that there was no fraud. He was easily re-elected on October 17, 2007, for a second term (64%).
During the campaign, he promised to review the lease of a spy and satellite tracking base used by the People's Republic of China and "to take appropriate actions at the right time." On November 7, he established relations with the Republic of China on Taiwan, which led the People's Republic of China to sever relations and vacate its satellite base nearly a month later. Tong was overwhelmingly re-elected to his seat in parliament in the August 2007 parliamentary election. On October 17, 2007, he was re-elected as president by a large majority. The opposition boycotted the election due to the exclusion of two opposition candidates, including Tong's brother Harry.