Protestors block New Caledonia roads as French police pour in

Liberté, égalité, fraternité. Vive la France impérialisme.

They voted 3 times against independence. This minority should be stop!

We can't and shouldn't measure there with our civilized scale. They deeply prefer misery, chaos and violence. So be it.

France has the option, if speed is needed, to call for assistace from Australia, New Zealand and Fiji who are all close enough to provide aid quickly, additional police or military and evacuation of stranded tourists from around the world and take them to safety if things flare up.

France is not alone and can utilize the resources available from nearby friends, as long as it does not place its own pride above the safety of tourists and guests.

This is essentially a slave rebellion against their colonial masters.

Certain lands can have freedom and independence, others enjoy no such privilege.

Macron is a hypocrite.

Good one ya, mate. There's plenty of historical colonial precedent for this.

France has the option, if speed is needed, to call for assistace from Australia, New Zealand

France has no right to be there anymore. Pay up and leave.

The Kanaks are bravely resisting foreign imperialism and domination.

Funny how several people here who strongly support fascist Russia invading the much smaller Ukraine - "because stronger nations have the right to do so" (as one poster puts it) now are claiming to be on the side against an imaginary "imperialism".

The population of NC have three times rejected independence. Without France, the reality is they would quickly become a banana Republic along the lines of Fiji, with coups every decade. Or a vassal state of Communist China - which is the dream of many, I suspect

A stronger country invading a much smaller country... Funny you say it because that's what is happening right here. France is invading the indigenous land of the Kanaks. Or as chief colonialost puts it, they are "reconquering".

All the votes in that occupied land have been rigged by the occupiers. There are many successful islands nations in the Pacific that don't need thieves from the other side of the world to run them.

The smoke blowing double standards from the 'Taiwan/Ukraine should be free' NATO crowd is astonishing.

They voted 3 times against independence. This minority should be stop!

This is the source of this uprising. The native Kanaks have been made a minority on their own land by immigration from France and to a lesser extent from some other southeast Asian nations. The net effect is that immigrants outnumber the native population, have more votes than the native population and have different interests than the native population. The immigrants are more interested in extracting resources and making money and are comparatively indifferent to the relative poverty of the native population, who does not benefit from the businesses and resource extraction of the immigrant population.

This is not a new problem. The French previously agreed with the Kanaks to limit voting to native born New Caledonians. That agreement was breached by a recent French Parliament law granting the vote to immigrants who have lived in New Caledonia for at least ten years.

A stronger country invading a much smaller country... Funny you say it because that's what is happening right here. France is invading the indigenous land of the Kanaks. Or as chief colonialost puts it, they are "reconquering".

It is not that simple. New Caledonia is a Department of France. A Department in France is the equivalent of a state in the US or a province in Canada. They have representatives in the French Parliament and it is who gets to vote for these representatives that is the source of the current uprising.

All the votes in that occupied land have been rigged by the occupiers. There are many successful islands nations in the Pacific that don't need thieves from the other side of the world to run them.

The smoke blowing double standards from the 'Taiwan/Ukraine should be free' NATO crowd is astonishing.

What’s “astonishing” is that the forum Moscow mouthpiece has the temerity to talk about rigged elections and invasions without a hint of recognizing supreme, hilarious, delicious irony.

Don’t worry, perhaps they will find a way to silence all opposition …maybe with some Soviet era nerve toxins just…happening…to find their way onto the opposition when they’re out at the mall or some such. Or perhaps they will just happen to slip and fall from a high balcony. These things happen, comrade.

With about 1/4th of the world's Nickel ore, it is no wonder Putin is stirring up the locals. He would love to get his hands on that ore, if the French would let him.

@Desert Tortoise

The native Kanaks have been made a minority on their own land by immigration from France and to a lesser extent from some other southeast Asian nations.[...]

You should review your source : Kanak, even excluding the one presenting themselves as half or caledonian are the majority group as more than 40% (thought not absolute). And more precisely considering the one allowed to vote, far more than the absolute majority was Kanak : 63% moreover to ensure every Kanak could vote they were automatically registered, after obviously nobody actually forced them to vote but there is just no way to claim they were not able to vote nor were made in minority. By looking at the map of Kanak repartition and vote repartition, you can confirm the situation : if majority Kanak area were more likely to choose independance, there was a gap so Kanak choose to remain french or to not vote, and in that last case they should have perhaps woken up at some point : there was 3 votes. It was not Brexit were they can at least say they did not imagine it. There were 3 freaking vote.

Regarding ressources exploitation , you are aware that independantist actually requested (and got) more signifiant control of nickel production.

JJEMay 20 09:56 pm JST

The smoke blowing double standards from the 'Taiwan/Ukraine should be free' NATO crowd is astonishing.

He says while telling us everyday that Ukraine needs to be made subservient.

Desert TortoiseMay 20 10:59 pm JST

They voted 3 times against independence. This minority should be stop!

This is the source of this uprising. The native Kanaks have been made a minority on their own land by immigration from France and to a lesser extent from some other southeast Asian nations. The net effect is that immigrants outnumber the native population, have more votes than the native population and have different interests than the native population. The immigrants are more interested in extracting resources and making money and are comparatively indifferent to the relative poverty of the native population, who does not benefit from the businesses and resource extraction of the immigrant population.

That's true of many pacific islands, including Hawaii. I would say being a resident for 10 years pretty much indicates you have more at stake than "extracting resources and making money", though. The time is long since past when these islands could have been made xenophobic kingdoms.

I would point out that the nickel in New Caledonia, at today's prices, is worth over a trillion dollars. Putin knows it, and Macron knows that Putin has been stirring up trouble in the French territories for years. Macron is among the most vocal critics of Putin, perhaps not least because he knows what Putin has been doing against the interests of France.

If Putin got control of New Caledonia's mineral wealth, it would go a long way toward paying for his wars of conquest. The indigenous people would not be allowed to be an impediment to someone like Putin (or Xi or Kim).

You should review your source : Kanak, even excluding the one presenting themselves as half or caledonian are the majority group as more than 40% (thought not absolute).

40% is a minority.

Btw, in the 2018 independence referendum, 56.7% of votes were against independence. In the 2020 referendum that margin dropped to 53.3%. The Kanaks requested the 2021 referendum be postponed due to the pandemic and the resulting restrictions on public meetings, which prevented effective campaigning, but the French government refused. As a result the pro independence parties boycotted the election.

But the proximate cause of the current uprising is the French Parliament unilaterally abrogating the Noumea Accords regarding who is allowed to vote in New Caledonia elections. It is seen as a means to dilute the Kanak vote and diminish their political power.