The restart of French nuclear tests highlights both the strength of the=
French
military and armaments lobby and Chirac's desire to identify himself with=
the
Gaullist tradition by emphasising French independance.
A priori, it was a cheap gesture: and the Americans, as we know, only
protested symbolically. In 1992 Clinton's administration had already=
expelled
the Greenpeace militants that the French had kicked off the atoll where an
underground nuclear explosion was to take place. In fact the Americans
dispose of their chemical arms at Johnston atoll and are carrying out=
ballistic
tests on the Marshall islands, which boasts the highest rate of syphilis in=
the
world.
Ironically it is truly the Gaullist heritage that Chirac is cultivating. By
deciding to move the tests, which up till then had taken place in an
unpredictable Algeria, to Muroroa General de Gaulle moved the goalposts.
The economy and destiny of the islands was changed forever: the age of the
autarchies was over. The archipelago survived within an artificial economic
framework, founded on nuclear activity and dependance on France. The
presense of 10,000 military personnel, engineers and technicians in=
Polynesia
is complemented by a monthly backhander of 55 million dollars that Paris
gives to Tahiti. Eventually French Polynesia risks finding itself on the
sidelines of the air and maritime routes. From an economic point of view,=
the
cost of living is prohibitive for many tourists. This paradoxical paradise=
seems
to be reserved for the famous: in the past Jacques Brel and today Carlos,=
Jack
Nicholson, Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, Raquel Welch, Ringo Starr, Diana
Ross to give a few examples.
The last two decades have for this reason been marked by movements for
independance in New Caledonia, demonstrations and strikes in French
Polynesia and by Parisian strongarm tactics - state of emergencies and the
clumping of the military boot - and the Greenpeace scandal.
At a time when Chirac was Prime Minister, the crisis of 1987 was revelatory
of the political and social problems in Tahiti. It started with 700 dockers
protesting about their working conditions at the military base of Mururoa
where the tests were taking place.. They were immediately flown out to
Papeete and dismissed from their posts. The capital, a crucial logistics=
centre,
was already home to hundreds of unemployed shacked up in makeshift slums.
A strike broke out, directly confronting the interests of the ruling class.
Agitation turned to riot.
Two versions, not completely self-contradictory, were given by the press.
According to the first, the troubles took place after the police had
ferreted out
the strikers who were taking refuge on the quay. The latter which had been
joined by other locals, demonstrated throughout the town. According to the
second version, the troubles started the Friday evening, and were=
essentially
the activities of young teenagers from working class areas, who caused some
trouble and a few fires. There were about 26 injured, only two seriously.
Repression was vigourous. The authorities declared a state of emergency and
a curfew, closed all outlets for alcoholic drinks and, over the weekend,
brought in by plane 200 *legionnaires* (trans: foreign legion) stationed at
Muroroa along with two companies of paramilitary police from the French
mainland, that is to say about 1000 men; calls were made to strike breakers,
who were given military protection and the press were not allowed to take
photographs. About 50 of the strike breakers were arrested. Other states and
political parties were accused by the French government.
The French press back home, who had been indignant when the Poles
announced a state of emergency showed little interest. Nevertheless, the
spectacular nature of these interventions led reuters to put Tahiti forward=
as a
lead international story of the day.
Those few international papers which mentioned the events revealed
themselves to be both discrete and taciturn. Whilst reuters were giving out=
the
details the English speaking press showed discretion which revealed their
solidarity with the French state.
It did come up with, however, a very succinct analysis of the governmental
crisis; it was suggested that some syndicalist militants were very close to=
the
independance movement. Scarcely mentioned was the fact that the
government had made its call to the strike breakers, which in every country=
of
the world and at all times has been considered by workers to be a=
declaration
of war.
*****************************
The South Sea Islands have changed fundamentally: Japanese, Australian and
Aotearoan expansion and that of South-East Asia have greatly modified the
geopolitical landscape. French governmental interventions are no longer
clandestine but take place under the protection of the Great Powers who are
dying to get in on the act.. Aotearoa, for example, has brought to the=
military
defence of the Pacific an interest which is hardly justified by the dangers
which accompany it.
Tahiti, the island of lost dreams, finds itself enmeshed in the wider=
Pacific
network where pseudo capitalism is laying out its stall. Without any finesse
the elites of the first and second ranks powers are playing a cynical game,
lawless and immoral, a wargame whose end is to occupy, in every respect,
this oceanic space which on its own is more vast than the landspace of the
planet. Into its great depths an oceanic prospection has been launched by=
the
Geophysic Institute of Hawaii. Some of the companies concerned are
patronised by the US or the UN. Thus phosphate seams have been exploited
and nearly exhausted in some regions. On the other hand there are still=
great
sources in other areas, such as the Matahiva lake.
Pearl farming, one of the islands riches, went through a crisis in the early
1990s, with a decline in Japanese demand, which represents its main market.
The industry had, however, managed to resist the pressure from the buyers
and the growing competition from other quarters such as the Cook Islands,
where the industry had actually been introduced by a Taitian. In the waters
and the airs the main interested nations : Australia, Aotearoa, Japan but=
also
France have gone on a shopping spree: merchant shipping lines, Airline
Companies, tourist cruises. Great Britain and the US seem strangely absent.
On the other hand there are some small fry like John H. Magoon Jnr. who
owns 56% of Hawaiin Airlines.
Throughout the islands, tourism is a source of revenue, but it is dependant=
on
multinationals in the transport and hotelliery industries. The distance=
between
different places can deter businesses founded on a profitability principle.
Economic journals speak only of this: extending a companies market share,
eliminating competition, but also of subsidiaries with narrow profit=
margins;
the economic game pursues sometimes contradictory objectives which consist
of occupying land and making profits.
The rivals therefore weave their alliances which produce for example Franco-
Japanese and Franco-German projects for the Fiji Islands. The Tahiti
developments also preoccupy the Territorial and French governments. A
delegation visited Hong Kong, at a time when the future for this island=
state
was particularly worrying and when voices were being raised everywhere
against accepting new immigrants; the delegation invited Chinese
businessmen to invest in the islands summs of between 450,000 and 1.3m
dollars. In exchange they were offered a French passport, tax exemption on
investments and the combined advantages of the general preferential Systems
of the US and the EU.
In contrast to the idea that nothing is happening in Tahiti, the current=
global
strategy represents a new stage in this metamorphosis. Islands and
archipelagos are faced with a new threat, that of an international market
where the various information superhighways already play a crucial role. The
creation of a Parliament is discussed and an economic treaty for the whole=
of
the Pacific is set up. French policy, as domineering as it is, is not the
only one
we should question. When the Great Powers treat her as intrusive perhaps
France can legitimately ask herself if their virtuous indignation does not
simply mask their own ambitions.
In effect, behind the worries provoked by the nuclear tests we can see a new
profile, a new French dynamism in the Pacific since the 1980s. Since the
troubles in New Caledonia, a country which produces a third of the nickel on
the planet, metropolitan France has poured millions of dollars into the=
region.
This largesse does not limit itself to those territories linked to France:
financial or military aid has been given to Vanuatu, the Cook Islands and
even Fiji.
All this goes to show that there is another Pacific: that of the 21st=
century, a
'sixth continent' in full gestation, under the aegis of giants both near and
far:
Australia, Aotearoa, Japan, China, the US and France. Caring little for the
populations and the territories they impose their political, economic and
financial decisions exploiting without shame the mining and maritime
resources or setting up anywhere they wish their golf courses. The=
criticisms
made of the French are not reducible to simple 'confrontation' or a love of
ecology, but also the conflicts between the different imperial powers.
Notes :
Julian Evans, "Letters from an Invented Eden", The Guardian, (Features
Section), (September 26, 1992); "The Pacific Idea ; There Is A Better
World", The Economist (March 16, 1991) Section: World Politics and
Current
Affairs p. 15 (U.K. Edition p. 19).
Kalinga Seneviratne, "South Pacific: 'Rainbow Warrior' Incident Revives
Colonial Fears", Inter Press Service (April 2, 1992).
"Discrimination Development-Small Islands: Pacific Delegates Cry", Inter
Press Service, (April 28, 1994) .
Entrepris par le Committee for Coordination of Joint Prospection for
Mineral Resources in South Pacific Offshore Areas, fond=E9 en 1972.
"South Pacific Islands", The Mining Journal, Ltd. Mining Annual Review,
Londres (June, 1989) Section: Countries; Pacific and Austrasia p. A 84 .
Louisson, Simon. "South Seas Black-Pearl Industry Ready To Grow", The
Reuter Asia-Pacific Business Report , (April 4, 1994) BC cycle.
Kalinga Seneviratne, "South Pacific: `Rainbow Warrior' Incident Revives
Colonial Fears", Inter Press Service (April 2, 1992).
Ronald Creagh
Ronald Creagh
C.I.R.C.A.N. (Centre d'Information et de Recherche sur les Cultures
d'Amerique du Nord).
Universite Paul Valery, B.P. 5043, Montpellier (France).
Fax (Domicile - Home) : 67 64 77 23
e-mail : rcreagh@alor.univ-montp3.fr (Ronald Creagh)