Macron to push French ‘alternative’ on Pacific trip amid rising China-US tensions
- Macron’s trip starts in New Caledonia, a French overseas territory bitterly divided over independence – then to non-French islands Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea
- France relaunched its Indo-Pacific approach last year after a row over a submarine contract with Australia, casting France as balancing power in China-US tussle
France’s President Emmanuel Macron will travel to the southwest Pacific next week offering a “French alternative” to a region marked by rising China-US tensions, his office said on Monday.
Macron’s trip will start in New Caledonia, a French overseas territory that is bitterly divided after three successive referendums rejected independence from France.
He will then to travel on to Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea, a “historic” part of the journey because no French president had ever visited non-French islands in the region, an official said.
Macron will use those two stops to outline his Indo-Pacific strategy, aimed at “recommitting” France to the region, the official said.
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 United States.
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“We don’t believe in hegemony, we don’t believe in confrontation, we believe in stability,” Macron said on the margins of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in November.
