Lisa came to China for a better life, but was 'auctioned off' for marriage

The ABC has spoken to multiple Tongan women who have been lured into an arranged marriage syndicate operating in China, with allegations of passports being confiscated and tens of thousands of dollars changing hands. Lisa, which is not her real name, returned home to Tonga last week after nine months in China. ( ABC News: Marian Kupu ) The ABC has spoken to multiple Tongan women who have been lured into an arranged marriage syndicate operating in China.

One woman says she was locked in a room and had her passport confiscated. Tongan police say they are investigating the allegations, which the Chinese Embassy in Tonga has dismissed as a "transnational marriage dispute". Lisa grew up in a small rural village in Tonga.

Her family are farmers, and the 23-year-old lived a simple life. But she always dreamed of something bigger. So when a Tongan woman living in China contacted her through a family member with an offer of a better life, she was intrigued.

"She told me there was an opportunity in China if I was willing to get married, she told the ABC. "She sent me photos of two Chinese men. One worked in a restaurant, the other owned a car business.

She told me [if] I married one of them, I wouldn't have to pay for anything, and I'd be able to send money home every month. "I agreed because I believed it was an opportunity that would allow me to support my family and improve my own life. Lisa with another young Tongan woman who was brought to China for marriage.

Lisa, who asked to be de-identified to protect her family, packed her bags. She boarded a flight — her first time travelling alone and first time flying overseas — and arrived in China in October last year. "The situation in China turned out to be completely different from what I had been told in Tonga.

"I felt as though I [was] something that had been bought and sold." Little did she know she had inadvertently been drawn into an arranged marriage syndicate that has enticed multiple Tongan women to China — a syndicate now being investigated by Tongan police. When Lisa arrived in China, she was taken to Fujian province and introduced to the people who helped organise her trip. Days later she was introduced to several different men — different to the photos she was originally shown — and was told to "marry" and then "show affection" to one of them.

Tapenisa Mahe, a Tongan woman studying in Fujian province who came to translate and support Lisa, was there when that happened. She said it was like they were "auctioning her off". "I began to feel very uneasy.

I wondered whether this was somehow normal in China. Tapenisa Mahe was worried about the transactional nature of what she saw. Ms Mahe was told by the people who organised Lisa's trip — and who asked her to help translate — that she had come "to try to build a better life".

"I only agreed to help because I wanted to help another Tongan, she said. But she said she quickly became "seriously concerned.