French president Emmanuel Macron has denounced “new imperialism” in the Pacific during a landmark visit to the region, warning of a threat to the sovereignty of smaller states.
“There is in the Indo-Pacific and particularly in Oceania new imperialism appearing, and a power logic that is threatening the sovereignty of several states – the smallest, often the most fragile,” he said in Vanuatu on Thursday.
His comments came as US secretary of defense Lloyd Austin told reporters in Papua New Guinea that Washington was not seeking a permanent base in the Pacific Islands nation under a new defence agreement with Port Moresby.
Macron – on the first visit by a sitting French leader to an independent Pacific state – sought to underscore France’s importance in a region over which China and the US are competing for military, economic and diplomatic influence.
“Our Indo-Pacific strategy is above all to defend through partnerships the independence and sovereignty of all states in the region that are ready to work with us,” Macron said.
France has 1.6 million citizens in the Asia-Pacific across seven overseas territories, including New Caledonia and French Polynesia, and an exclusive economic zone spanning nine million square kilometres (3.5m square miles).
As the US and its allies seek to counter China’s growing sway in the region, France offered an “alternative”, a presidential adviser said, with plans for expanded aid and development to confront natural catastrophes.
Macron last year relaunched France’s Indo-Pacific approach in the aftermath of a bitter row over a cancelled submarine contract with Australia, casting France as a balancing power in a region dominated by the tussle between China and the US.
He is on a five-day visit to the region, which has also included a stop in New Caledonia and will continue in Papua New Guinea (PNG). It is the first time a French president has travelled to independent countries in the Pacific region, and not only French overseas territories.
France has sovereignty over three territories in the Pacific: New Caledonia, French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna.
New Caledonians rejected independence in a third referendum on the subject in December 2021, although the vote was boycotted by pro-independence movements largely backed by the indigenous Kanak population.
While Macron was in Vanuatu, US defense secretary Austin was meeting PNG’s prime minister, James Marape, to discuss their countries’ deepening defence ties. “I just want to be clear, we are not seeking a permanent base in PNG,” he said afterwards.
PNG and the US signed a defence cooperation agreement in May that sets a framework for the US to refurbish PNG ports and airports for military and civilian use.
The text of the agreement shows that it allows the staging of US forces and equipment in PNG, and covers the Lombrum naval base which is being developed by Australia and the US.
Austin said the two nations were deepening an existing defence relationship, and would modernise PNG’s defence force and boost interoperability. “Our goal is to make sure we strengthen PNG’s ability to defend itself and protect its interest,” he added.
The US has been seeking to deter Pacific island nations from forming security ties with China, a rising concern amid tension over Taiwan, and after Beijing signed a security pact with Solomon Islands.
Marape on Thursday said the defence cooperation with the US would build up PNG’s capability, and was “not for a war joint preparation”.
Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report
