Foreign Minister Winston Peters urges France to keep open mind on New Caledonia

Foreign Minister Winston Peters has used a speech in Paris to urge the French to keep an open mind about a new path forward for New Caledonia.

He also wants to deepen New Zealand's relationship with France, and wants a stronger focus from the European country on the Pacific.

Titled 'The Path Less Travelled' in a nod to American poet Robert Frost, the half-hour speech was delivered to the French Institute of International Relations in the early hours of Wednesday morning (NZ time) to an audience that included dignitaries from the government and the diplomatic corps.

Peters highlighted geopolitical trends: a shift in countries' focus from rules to power, from economics to security and defence, and from economic efficiencies to resilience and sustainability.

"These shifts present challenges for a small trade-dependent country like New Zealand. Some of these challenges are familiar, but others, those mostly driven by technology, are new," Peters said.

After speaking about the value of free trade agreements - highlighted by New Zealand's recent FTA with the EU - he raised the spectre of security flashpoints including the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait.

"We are also deeply concerned by North Korea's evolving nuclear capability and ambition. Those concerns are heightened by its supply of troops to Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, another flagrant breach of international law and UN resolutions."

"The relentless securitisation of the Pacific and a breakdown in long-standing cooperation norms in Antarctica mean New Zealand cannot stay out of the way of geopolitics."

He pointed to New Zealand's foreign policy agenda, including a focus on South East Asia and India, neighbours in the Pacific, tackling multi-country problems through multilateral discussion, setting up new multilateral groupings to navigate "impasses or blockages", and promoting the coalition's goal of boosting export values through diplomacy.

"To achieve this ambitious agenda, we knew we needed to give more energy, more urgency, and a sharper focus to three inter-connected lines of effort: Investing in our relationships, growing our prosperity, and strengthening our security.

He urged France to deepen the relationship with New Zealand, helping advance Pacific priorities and protecting the international rules-based order, drawing on France's interest and involvement in the region, as well as its diplomatic, development, military and humanitarian supports.

"As a country, we've got the tools to make a big impact ... Pacific regionalism sits at the core of New Zealand's Pacific approach ... but New Zealand cannot meet these needs alone.

"We will increasingly look to cooperate with our traditional partners like France and other close partners who share our values and interests. We want to deepen our cooperation with France to advance Pacific priorities, to strengthen existing regional architecture, to protect the international rules-based order, and to ensure the prosperity of future Pacific generations."

If the French needed encouragement, Peters pointed to the shared values that underpin the partnership, saying the two countries "share the same democratic pulse", saying the fraternité - brotherhood - of France's motto evoked a sense of moral obligation for governments "to protect all of their their citizens and provide them with the conditions to prosper".

New Caledonia

Peters soon turned to the deadly riots in New Caledonia, saying New Zealand welcomed the efforts to restore security and help get foreigners including New Zealanders out. The agreements between Paris and Nouméa in the '80s and '90s, he said, represented the road less travelled, "one where France and New Caledonia walked together".

"But now, in 2024, that road has become overgrown and blocked by choices already made and actions already taken."

The archipelago remains in something of a standoff after the riots that broke out in May over calls for independence.

France retains control of the military, but Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka - after a long-delayed visit alongside his Cook Islands and Tonga and the Solomon Islands Foreign Minister - this month offered to deploy a peacekeeping force under the Pacific Policing Initiative.

Peters urged France to think carefully about its next steps, and keep an open mind about the path forward.

"That in Nouméa and Paris, the key to restore the spirit of earlier understandings is for all parties to have open minds about their next crucial choice, about a new path forward, because France and the people of New Caledonia stand at a new turning point," he said.

"Rather than dwell on old questions, we think there is an opening for everyone who cares about New Caledonia to use our imaginations to think of a new question.

"There are all sorts of constitutional models out there, including across the Pacific. For instance, New Zealand has learned from its experience of having different types of constitutional relationships with realm countries, the Cook Islands, Niue, and Tokelau.

"Our realm relationships are stable and mutually beneficial, so enduring, and the constitutional mechanisms provide for maximum self-determination while ensuring that New Zealand's security and defence interests remain protected."

Peters said New Zealand deeply respected France's role in the region, "and we are in no doubt that the economic might of France is essential to reestablishing a vibrant New Caledonian economy".

"We stand ready to help in any way we can, and we trust France appreciates ... 'there is nothing better than the encouragement of a good friend', because that is the animating spirit behind our words today."

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