France’s strategy and priorities in the Pacific region

© Soazig de la Moissonniere / Presidency of the French Republic

In late July 2023, the historic visit of the President of the Republic to Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia highlighted the strengthened ambition of France in the Pacific region. President Macron stressed our commitment to the climate, the increase in our development assistance and the strengthening of our diplomatic network. This network of seven embassies is supported by the Ambassador and Permanent Secretary for the Pacific, now based in Nouméa.

Summits bringing together the Pacific States, regional organizations, France and the three territories of the region have been regularly organized since 2003 to provide a framework for discussion at the highest level on shared priorities for action :

• 2021

This Summit, held via videoconference due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reiterated the solidarity and unity of the Pacific family and recognized the Pacific Islands Forum’s efforts to promote regional integration.

• 2025

The 6th Pacific-France Summit was held in Nice on 10 June 2025. It provided an opportunity to hear the concerns of Pacific States on questions of ocean preservation, climate change, geopolitical tensions, attacks on multilateralism, to take stock of the situation in New Caledonia and promote France’s action in key areas for the region (development of air, sea and submarine cable connectivity ; security training by the Pacific Academy).

The Summit was an opportunity to further raise France’s regional commitment to resilience and climate change adaptation with the announcement of a €2 million contribution to the Pacific Resilience Facility developed by the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). The key role played by Pacific States in furthering global governance on matters linked to ocean vulnerability, such as rising sea levels, was highlighted as the Summit took place on the sidelines of UNOC3.

Fulfilling the needs of Pacific island States and investing in strengthening their sovereignty

Pacific island States demand the legitimate right to define their own priorities for the region, as expressed in the 2025 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent. First in these priorities is the fight against climate change, deemed “existential”. Its consequences raise major adaptation challenges : in the face of the increasing number of natural disasters, the loss of biodiversity that a portion of their economy (fishing) depends on and to safeguard their sovereignty faced with the risk of flooding due to rising water levels, these challenges are more urgent than anywhere else in the world.

Resilience and security in the broader sense is the second priority expressed by the Pacific States. Their concerns first and foremost involve civilian protection faced with a lack of resources and heightened vulnerability to natural disasters, but also maritime security for the preservation of fishery resources, public order, and regional security at a time of re-emerging tensions.

France positions itself as a leading partner in these areas, with regionally-oriented projects that address :

• climate change resilience (Kiwa Initiative) ;
• natural disaster response (partnership between France, Australia and New Zealand known as FRANZ, participation in the Pacific Humanitarian Warehousing Program, financing the reopening in Nouméa of the Southern Pacific Ocean Regional Intervention Platform) ;
• security training (Pacific Academy) ;
• human cultural exchanges (student and researcher exchange programmes in the Pacific).

It involves enabling the Pacific Islands to acquire the capacity to take action in support of their priorities with training or projects that draw on existing structures and which are operated, insofar as possible, by local stakeholders.

The regional organizations are the ideal partners for this policy : The Pacific Community, the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).

France also seeks to mobilize the European Union (EU) for its regional projects. As the only Member State present in the region through its territories, France seeks to “europeanize” its action, particularly as regards development assistance and climate change resilience.

The emergence of “new imperialisms” in the Pacific

The network of islands, which covers the neighbourhood of North-East Asia to that of Hawaii in the North Pacific, as well as the massive exclusive economic zones that make up the Pacific all represent strategic points of interest for neighbouring powers.

The Pacific is one of the main areas where China asserts its influence, pursuing political, economic, strategic and soft power goals there. Its actions cover a wide range of cooperation sectors, including trade, official development assistance and security. It has significant leverage thanks to its policy of investing in infrastructures together with stakes in the debts of island countries, which can be up to 75% of their GDP.

Faced with this growing assertiveness, the United States enhanced its soft power by facilitating coordination between like-minded States, particularly within the “Five Eyes”.

The conclusion of a security agreement between China and the Solomon Islands in April 2022 alerted Australia which then moved to sign security and cooperation agreements with Pacific island States (Tuvalu in November 2023, PNG and Nauru in December 2023).

France, through President Macron, observed in July 2023 in Vanuatu “the return to a power logic in the Pacific”, and publicly warned the island States against the Chinese risk and “the emergence of new imperialisms in the Indo-Pacific” which bore “the hallmarks of a new colonialism”. While there is no ambiguity as to the proximity between France, Australia and the other members of the “Five Eyes”, France does not wish its action to follow a bloc rationale.

This observation is especially true for France as it fosters the integration of its territories in their regional environment.

Updated : July 2025