A rioting crowd trashed property in central Nuku'alofa, capital of Tonga, Thursday afternoon.

The crowd left the central supermarket Molisi Tonga in a tangled mess of broken glass and the streets smelling of spilled beer as looters joined rioters in a spree of destruction shortly after 3:30 PM local time (2:30 GMT), said a staff of the Chinese Embassy in Tonga.

Shocked staff at Molisi Tonga opposite the central Talamahu Market were left surveying the wreckage as police are now taking control of the area.

People threw stones at the Prime Minister's office, and they also threw stones at the cabinet office. They turned over police vehicles and vehicles of the prime minister's office.

There was a call from Chinese owner of a store in the downtown saying the looters had caused damage to his store, a staff of Chinese Embassy told Xinhua.

There are about 500 Chinese living in Nuku' alofa.

Radio New Zealand International said the riot erupted after the government refused to approve reforms immediately.

Pro-democracy campaigners want the Assembly to vote for political reform before parliament closes for the year Thursday.

The activists have been camped outside the Assembly to push for a binding vote that full democratic reforms will be enacted ahead of the 2008 elections.

The demand is being resisted by the government which says such change cannot be made before 2009.

An archipelago of more than 170 islands spread over an area of the South Pacific roughly the size of Japan, Tonga is the last Polynesian monarchy.

(Xinhua News Agency November 16, 2006)