International Courant
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Latest unrest in New Caledonia has additional strained relations with Paris
For the Pacific Islands, local weather change, geopolitics and safety are sometimes the primary matters of each summit.
However at this 12 months’s Pacific Island Discussion board Chief’s Assembly – the biggest diary occasion within the area – one other well timed matter got here up: New Caledonia and the unrest that hit the French abroad territory in Might.
A controversial French proposal to increase voting rights to individuals who have lived on the islands for greater than 10 years has sparked lethal protests. Eleven individuals have since died – 9 civilians and two French gendarmes – and French police are nonetheless on the bottom.
President Emmanuel Macron visited New Caledonia and halted the reform in June. However tensions stay excessive, with a rising push for independence among the many indigenous Kanaks, who make up 41% of the inhabitants.
The French have mentioned they wish to set the document straight. They had been on a public relations mission in Tonga, the place leaders from all 18 island states and territories met this week, together with New Caledonia’s President Louis Mapou.
However small island states had been skeptical — the violence in New Caledonia had eroded help for the French. And plenty of noticed it as an try by France to retain a strategic a part of the world the place the US and China had been jostling for energy.
“We have now seen a variety of optimistic experiences within the press this week concerning the French delegation,” mentioned Véronique Roger-Lacan, the French ambassador to the Pacific, on Thursday, laughing sarcastically.
She held a extremely publicized press convention, her staff persistently encouraging the media to attend, making it clear that they had been there to reply questions and supply transparency in what had been a painful few months, not just for New Caledonia but additionally for France’s fame within the area.
The French delegation was current as a ‘dialogue associate’, one in all 21 nations with pursuits within the area, together with Washington and Beijing.
As an abroad French territory, New Caledonia’s protection, overseas affairs, and police are coordinated by France. To many right here, it appeared as if France was guiding the pro-independence chief.
“As a rustic within the Pacific, we are able to really feel that we’re a part of a neighborhood of challenges,” mentioned François-Xavier Léger, the French ambassador to Fiji, throughout the briefing. And earlier than that, Ambassador Roger-Lacan mentioned that “New Caledonia is France.”
These feedback precipitated a stir on the discussion board, the place there was a lot speak about decolonization and independence.
“By making these sorts of statements you aren’t actually serving to the dialogue,” mentioned Reverend Billy Wetewea, a minister from the Kanaky Protestant Church who additionally attended the discussion board.
Pastor Wetewea has labored with most of the Kanaky youth in New Caledonia who led the protests. “I am not justifying the violence, however I feel it may be defined by social dynamics,” he mentioned, including that years of inequality in schooling, well being and social points had taken their toll.
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The annual assembly of Pacific Island leaders was held in Tonga this 12 months
New Caledonia is on the United Nations checklist of Non-Self-Governing Territories. These are nations that the UN displays for his or her progress in the direction of independence.
France has made it clear that it’s following the steps in the direction of decolonization. The Noumea Accord, signed in 1998, set the territory on a path of larger autonomy. The intention was {that a} extra impartial New Caledonia would emerge over a interval of 20 years.
Three referendums had been additionally placed on the desk. Within the first, held in 2018, voters rejected independence by 56.7%. Then in 2020 there was a slender victory for the anti-independence aspect – 53%. In 2021, independence events boycotted the final referendum, claiming the vote was rushed. The Covid pandemic had made campaigning not possible and indigenous Kanaks nonetheless took half in rituals to bury their lifeless.
It’s no shock that the pro-French aspect gained overwhelmingly. That final referendum set the tone for the tensions of the previous few years between France and the Kanaks, who really feel that France shouldn’t be taking part in honest on their path to decolonization.
When requested by the BBC what France might do to alter that opinion, Ambassador Roger-Lacan replied resolutely that they might do every thing by the guide.
“That is the continuing job in New Caledonia with all of you within the press,” she mentioned. “Issues need to be offered in a impartial means, all over the place, disinformation needs to be stopped, the precise data needs to be given to the individuals about this self-determination and democratic course of.”
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When he was elected President of New Caledonia, Louis Mapou mentioned he wished to place the longer term path of New Caledonia again on the desk
Whereas France can accuse the media of not reporting their aspect of the story, many right here blame France’s tone and query their pursuits.
“They wish to preserve their geopolitical presence within the Pacific, out of concern that China will take over the Pacific,” mentioned Reverend Billy Wetewea.
China despatched its largest-ever delegation to the discussion board this 12 months. And the U.S. delegation was led by Kurt Campbell, President Joe Biden’s deputy secretary of state, who’s extensively hailed because the architect of Washington’s latest alliance-building in Asia.
France’s place within the Pacific got here into sharp focus in 2021 when Australia cancelled a multi-billion greenback contract with a French firm to construct nuclear submarines, as a substitute signing a significant new defence pact with the US and UK.
This, mentioned researcher Benoît Trépied, modified the French strategy to New Caledonia: “All of a sudden there was an enormous new curiosity from French officers within the Pacific. (The) colonial, imperial reflex that was – no, if we wish to be highly effective within the Pacific, New Caledonia should stay French. Interval.”
Regardless of the stalemate, this week’s assembly was productive. Leaders backed a deliberate fact-finding mission to New Caledonia that was overdue, however disagreements over who would lead the mission pushed the timing again.
However Pastor Wetewea believes that there must be extra dialogue.
“They’ll’t make choices with out consulting the individuals,” he mentioned. “In the event that they make their very own choices, it is going to be actually thrilling once more. Now the younger individuals need their voices heard.”
