In July, Macron made the first visit to Vanuatu by a French leader since it gained independence from France and Britain in 1980, warning in a speech against China’s “new imperialism”.
China is Vanuatu’s largest external creditor, and its then prime minister was ousted by lawmakers the next month, in part for abandoning Vanuatu’s non-aligned foreign policy.
Melanesian Spearhead Group leaders met in August to consider security cooperation with China, on which no decision has been made.
On Thursday, Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai issued a statement as the group’s chairman, criticising France for the riots and demanding it drop the electoral reform, which will dilute the Kanak vote in New Caledonia.
“Vanuatu is fuelled,” said one Vanuatu lawmaker, who declined to be identified, pointing to anti-colonial sentiment on social media in response to the deaths of three Kanak youths.
REGIONAL SECURITY ISSUE
Electoral reform is the latest flashpoint in a decades-long tussle over France’s role in mineral-rich New Caledonia, which lies some 1,500km east of Australia.
France annexed the island in 1853 and gave the colony the status of overseas territory in 1946. It has long been rocked by pro-independence movements.
FLNKS external relations adviser Jimmy Naouna told Reuters he had raised the crisis with the Pacific Islands Forum, the main 18-member regional bloc, as a regional security issue and a joint statement is being negotiated by members over the weekend.
Lowy Institute Pacific fellow Oliver Nobetau said a heavy-handed response to the protests by French police would backfire in the region, where decolonisation was expected.
“France is trying to re-emerge as a Pacific partner and this will evidently not help that image,” said Nobetau, a former Papua New Guinea government adviser on international security deals.
PNG gained independence from Australia in 1975, and is balancing a new defence pact with Washington and growing trade ties with China.
Macron visited PNG last year, another first for France, and PNG would balance its response to the New Caledonia crisis with its economic relationship with France, he added.
