New Zealand officials hoped French Polynesia and New Caledonia would respond to security pact, documents show.
Within days of a draft version of the security pact leaking online in March 2022, representatives of New Zealand, Australia and France were meeting to discuss the implications for the region, the diplomatic cables obtained by Al Jazeera show.
While the precise nature of the discussions is unclear due to redactions in the documents, the cables suggest Wellington hoped officials in French Polynesia and New Caledonia would take a position on the Solomon Islands-China agreement.
New Zealand diplomats in New Caledonia’s capital Noumea noted in their reports to Wellington that neither French Polynesia nor New Caledonia “is likely to take a public position” on the deal.
After a meeting with New Caledonia’s High Commissioner Patrice Faure on March 30, New Zealand officials reported that they had relayed an unspecified “suggestion” to their French counterpart, “noting the need for the first response to be from Pacific leaders and from the [Pacific Islands Forum]”.
“We suggested it would be helpful for Faure …,” the New Zealand diplomats said, referring to suggested action whose details are redacted in the documents.
“Faure undertook to do so, as well as to speak to High Commissioner Sorain, his counterpart in Papeete, with the same aim in mind,” the diplomats said, referring to High Commissioner of French Polynesia Dominique Sorain.
New Zealand officials held three meetings in total with officials from the French overseas territories between March 29 and March 30, the documents show, including discussions with the President of French Polynesia Edouard Fritch, and Francois Behue, the head of the regional cooperation and external relations department in New Caledonia.
Australia’s then consul general in New Caledonia, Alison Carrington, joined the Kiwi diplomats in their meetings with Faure and Behue, according to the documents.
“The Pacific Islands Forum [PIF] serves as the pre-eminent regional organisation for Pacific Leaders to discuss, build consensus, and act on shared challenges. Pacific Islands Forum members have the collective capacity – and a strong commitment – to support each other to meet the broader ambitions for the region’s security, as set out in the Biketawa and Boe Declarations,” a spokeswoman for New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement provided after publication.
“For example, New Zealand has a long-term security partnership with Solomon Islands, most recently demonstrated in New Zealand’s participation [with Australia and Fiji] in the Solomon Islands International Assistance Force [SIAF] and the security support we provided to the Solomon Islands’ hosting of the Pacific Games late last year.”
Asked about perceptions that New Caledonia and French Polynesia were reluctant to comment publicly on the Solomon Islands-China security pact, the spokesperson said, “It is not for New Zealand to comment on the perspectives of other countries.”
“However, security and defence issues are competencies of the French state,” she said.
Australia’s Foreign Ministry, and France’s high commissioners in New Caledonia and French Polynesia, did not respond to Al Jazeera’s requests for comment.