PARIS (AP) 鈥 The French president is pressing his country's interests in the South Pacific this week and trying to make France鈥檚 voice heard in a region shaping up as a prime geopolitical battleground for China and the U.S.
President Emmanuel Macron鈥檚 trip to Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and New Caledonia starting Monday comes as French forces take part in massive in the region. With troops, citizens and resources spread across its Pacific territories, France wants to protect its interests and project its power alongside like-minded democracies worried about China鈥檚 growing assertiveness.
The most strategically important stop is Thursday in Papua New Guinea, which has seen growing Chinese influence and signed a new security cooperation in May. The most populous Pacific Island nation is also negotiating a .
Macron鈥檚 office insists the trip is not aimed at pressing an '鈥檃nti-China policy,鈥 but at encouraging regional powers to diversify their partnerships beyond Beijing and Washington. He felt the trip was needed because of 鈥渘ew, more intense threats鈥欌 to security, institutions and the environment in the region, according to an official in Macron's office who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
His chief diplomatic adviser, Emmanuel Bonne, speaking at the Aspen Security Forum last week, said 鈥淐hina is a global challenge. It is a challenge for the U.S. as well as for the EU," adding that 鈥渢here is kind of a strategic awakening in Europe today鈥 of the need for tougher policy toward China.
But he insisted that Europe shouldn't 鈥渄elegate鈥 its global security needs to the U.S. and should craft its own strategic policies. 鈥淚f we want to remain relevant in today鈥檚 world and to tomorrow鈥檚 world as France, as Europeans, we need to be much more robust,鈥 he said.
Macron鈥檚 office says he plans to visit a French patrol ship in the area, and offer infrastructure projects and a partnership to save forests and mangroves while ensuring jobs in Papua New Guinea, where France鈥檚 TotalEnergies is leading a liquefied natural gas project.
The French tour is coinciding with trips by some top U.S. officials to the region, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to this week after a visit to Papua New Guinea in May.
Macron began Monday in the French archipelago of New Caledonia, trying to rebuild trust after voters rejected a string of that exposed entrenched frustrations of native Kanaks and inequalities with the mainland, and divisions over management of the region鈥檚 rich nickel reserves. Negotiations are underway for a new status for the territory and its institutions.
鈥淚 am at our compatriots鈥 side to define the basis of this new path,鈥 Macron said in a televised interview after arriving.
Coastal erosion and other impacts of climate change top the agenda at each stop on Macron鈥檚 trip, in a region replete with islands that see and risk disappearing to rising seas, according to his advisers.
France has been an uninterrupted presence in the region since the 19th century, thanks to its colonial history and continued control over territories that are home to 1.5 million citizens and some 7,000 troops across the Indo-Pacific.
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Nick Perry in Wellington, New Zealand contributed.
