France on charm offensive as New Caledonia simmers

The recent unrest in New Caledonia has further strained its relations with Paris

For the Pacific Islands, climate change, geopolitics and security have often been the bread and butter of any summit.

But at this year’s Pacific Island Forum Leader’s Meeting - the region’s biggest diary event - there was another hot topic thrown into the mix: that of New Caledonia and the unrest that hit the French overseas territory back in May.

A controversial French proposal to extend voting rights to people who had lived on the islands for more than 10 years sparked deadly protests. Eleven people have since died – nine civilians and two French gendarmes - and there are still French police on the ground.

President Emmanuel Macron visited New Caledonia and, in June, halted the reform. But tensions remain high, with a growing push towards independence among the Indigenous Kanaks, who make up 41% of the population.

The French have said they want to set the record straight. They were on a PR mission in Tonga, where leaders from all 18 island nations and territories gathered this past week, including New Caledonia’s President Louis Mapou.

But small island nations were sceptical - the violence in New Caledonia had seen support for the French wane. And many saw it as an attempt by France to hold on to a strategic part of the world where the US and China were fighting for sway.

“We’ve seen lots of nice press about the French delegation throughout this week,” Véronique Roger-Lacan, France’s ambassador to the Pacific, said on Thursday, breaking into an ironic laugh.

She was holding a press briefing that had been heavily publicised, her team consistently encouraging media to attend. She made it clear they were there to answer questions and show transparency in what had been a bruising few months not just for New Caledonia but for France’s reputation in the region.

The French delegation attended as a "dialogue partner" - one of 21 such countries with interests in the region, inlcuding Washington and Beijing.

As an overseas French territory, New Caledonia's defence, foreign affairs and policing are coordinated by France. To many here, it looked like France was chaperoning the pro-independence leader.

“Being a country in the Pacific we can feel that we are part of a community of challenges,” François-Xavier Léger, the French Ambassador to Fiji, said at the briefing. And before that, Ambassador Roger-Lacan said that "New Caledonia is France".

These comments ruffled feathers at the forum, where there was much discussion of decolonisation and independence.

“In making this kind of statement, it’s not really helping the discussion,” said Reverend Billy Wetewea, a pastor at the Protestant Church of Kanaky who also attended the forum.

Reverend Wetewea has worked with many of the Kanaky youth in New Caledonia who led the protests. “I don’t justify the violence, but I think it can be explained through social dynamics,” he said, adding that years of inequality in education, health and social issues had taken their toll.

The annual meeting of Pacific Island leaders was held in Tonga this year

New Caledonia is on the United Nation’s list of non-self-governing territories - countries the UN monitors in their progress towards independence.

France has been clear it is following the steps towards decolonisation. The Nouméa Accord, signed in 1998, put the territory onto a path of more autonomy. The intention was that over a 20-year period, a more independent New Caledonia would emerge.

Three referendums were also tabled. In the first, held in 2018, voters rejected independence by 56.7%. Then in 2020, there was a narrower victory for the anti-independence side - 53%. In 2021, independence parties boycotted the final referendum, arguing that the vote was being rushed through. The Covid pandemic had made campaigning impossible and Indigenous Kanaks were still taking part in rituals to bury their dead.

Unsurprisingly, the pro-France side won with an overwhelming majority. That last referendum has set the tone for the past few years of strain between France and the Kanaks, who feel that France playing isn't fair in their path to decolonisation.

When asked by the BBC what France could do to change that view, Ambasssador Roger-Lacan was resolute they are doing everything by the book.

“This is the ongoing job in New Caledonia with you all in the press,” she said. “Things have to be portrayed in a neutral manner, everywhere, disinformation has to be stopped, right information has to be put to the people on this self-determination and democratic process.”

When he was elected as New Caledonia's president, Louis Mapou had said he wanted to put the future direction of New Caledonia back on the table

While France may blame the media for not reporting their side, many here blamed France’s tone – and questioned their interests.

“They want to maintain their presence in the Pacific geopolitically [with] the fear of China taking over the Pacific,” Reverend Billy Wetewea said.

China sent its largest-ever delegation to the forum this year. And the US delegation was led by Kurt Campbell, President Joe Biden’s Deputy Secretary of State, widely credited as the architect of Washington’s recent alliance-building in Asia.

France’s position in the Pacific was brought into sharp focus in 2021, when Australia cancelled a multi-billion dollar contract with a French firm to build nuclear submarines. Instead it signed a new, key defence pact with the US and the UK.

This, researcher Benoît Trépied said, altered France’s approach with New Caledonia: “Suddenly there was a huge new interest of French officials in the Pacific. [The] colonial, imperial reflex which was – no, if we want to be powerful in the Pacific, New Caledonia has to stay French. Period.”

Despite the stand-off, this week’s meeting was fruitful. Leaders endorsed a planned fact-finding mission to visit New Caledonia, which was meant to happen earlier but disagreements over who was in control of the mission made the timing slip.

But for Reverend Wetewea, there needs to be more dialogue.

“They cannot take decisions without consulting the people,” he said. “If they make their own decisions, it will be really tense again. Now the youth want their voice to be heard.”