Two of the world’s most powerful leaders have used speeches in the Pacific to reaffirm their respective country’s commitment to the region, as geopolitical competition intensifies on the back of China’s continued push.
In New Caledonia, President Emmanuel Macron said “the way forward” is the province remaining a part of France.
The French president’s speech came on the same day US Secretary of State Antony Blinken touched down in Tonga, telling an audience in the capital Nuku’alofa that “we’re a Pacific nation”.
Both leaders are toured the Pacific as the geopolitical tension in the region intensifies.
The US and its allies are grappling with an increasingly aggressive China, with Beijing making inroads in countries such as Solomon Islands.
Mr Macron touched down in Noumea last Monday night for a three-day visit before flying to Vanuatu on Wednesday night.
He will travel to Papua New Guinea later this week, becoming the first French president to tour a non-French Pacific island.
But New Caledonia’s future as a French territory has been his focus over the past three days, as the indigenous kanak population continues to agitate for independence.
The 2021 referendum failed in a landslide, but only after the kanak population called for nonparticipation because of a 12-month mourning period following a number of COVIDrelated deaths.
Speaking in Noumea on Wednesday, Mr Macron spoke about the “the path of apology” regarding the colonisation of the island nation, but he stopped short of mentioning any new push for an independence vote.
“I am convinced that this pathway of pardon and memory of history is a matter of necessity to construct a pathway of reconciliation,” he said.
“We need to come out of the face-to-face tensions, which is the only way that will allow the path of the future of New Caledonia in the republic and in the Pacific.”
The French president also flagged increasing the French forces in the country and warned independence could mean a “Chinese naval base tomorrow”.
“This is not called independence,” Mr Macron said. “France has a voice in the Pacific and Oceania.”
The ABC spoke to the residents on the streets of Noumea before the speech, and their feelings over Mr Macron’s visit were mixed.
One resident, Yaleta, told the ABC she believed France wanted to keep New Caledonia for its “natural riches”.
She believed New Caledonia would, one day, become independent. “It’s my wish, it’s my hope,” she said.
“We already live our independence in our tribes and I think that of course one day New Caledonia will be independent.”
Another resident, who referred to himself as Junior, said he believed Mr Macron wanted to find “a solution” for pro-independence and antiindependence.
“There shouldn’t be a loser or a winner,” he said.
Blinken in Tonga
Mr Blinken visited the kingdom of Tonga last Wednesday, opening the new embassy in the capital as part of a lightning tour of the region.
The US secretary of state touched down in Wellington on Wednesday night and visited Brisbane later last week for the Australia-US Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN).
The lightning tour comes as the United States continues to increase its diplomatic efforts in the Pacific while China’s influence in the region grows.
“As China’s engagement in the (Indo-Pacific) region has grown there has been some, from our perspective, increasingly problematic behaviour,” Mr Blinken said in a speech.
Mr Blinken is the first US secretary of state to pay an official visit to Tonga, as the superpower continues to give the region more attention.
The US recently re-opened its embassy in Solomon Islands and Kiribati, and US President Joe Biden hosted a first-ever summit in Washington with Pacific Island leaders last September. A second summit is scheduled for later this year.
His speech touched on climate change, development issues and the impact of illegal fishing — a constant issue of Pacific nations such as Tonga, which often rely on fisheries as a major export.
“There are a long list of things that we’re working on together, but it’s all driven by focusing on what’s concrete, what can really make a difference in people’s lives,” he said.
The Secretary of State said the US had “no objection” to China’s investments in the region, but warned they had to be made without coercion or with “political strings attached.”
“If it’s done in a productive way, if it really is responsive to the needs of people, if it helps generate a race to the top with others wanting to help out, that’s a good thing,” he said.
Mr Blinken’s tour comes as US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Papua New Guinea last week before heading to Australia.