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Category: military

  • ULMWP accuses Indonesian govt of ‘hypocrisy’ over Israel condemnation

    By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist

    West Papuan pro-independence supporters are calling Indonesia’s condemnation of Israel hypocritical considering its occupation of Papua for 61 years.

    The Indonesian government, through the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the President, has condemned the Israeli government’s handling of the conflict in Gaza.

    In a statement, a United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) spokesperson said: “Indonesia’s stance on the international stage contrasts with its actions in Papua”.

    “Indonesia mediates conflicts in several Asian countries but lacks a roadmap for resolving the conflict in Papua.”

    The group is calling for the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to immediately form a fact-finding mission to investigate alleged human rights violations. They have also asked for a review of Indonesia’s UN membership.

    In November last year, the Pacific Islands Forum appointed the Fiji and Papua New Guinea prime ministers as special envoys to Indonesia to “address the West Papua issue“.

    The ULMWP are asking for Indonesia to let the two leaders visit Papua.

    Hard to compare with Gaza
    Human Rights Watch researcher in Indonesia Andreas Harsono said the situation in West Papua was hard to compare to Gaza.

    “Palestine, Gaza and the West Bank, of course, is recognised by more than 130 countries, members of the United Nations. Meanwhile, West Papua is being discussed mostly among seven or maybe 10 other countries, so this is difficult to compare.”

    He said Indonesia — the most populous Muslim majority country — had religion in common with Palestine.

    But Harsono said West Papua did need more international attention and there was little understanding of the conflict inside Indonesia because of propaganda.

    ULMWP executive secretary Markus Haluk reiterated calls for a UN fact-finding mission.

    “We want the UN to send their fact-finding mission to West Papua to witness and to prove that there is a slow-motion genocide, ethnocide and ecocide happening in West Papua,” Haluk said, speaking to RNZ Pacific through a translator.

    It is an ongoing plea for the United Nations to visit. In 2019, the Indonesian government agreed in principle to a visit by the Human Rights Commissioner but that promise has not been fulfilled.

    Haluk said the “big brothers” in the region — referring to New Zealand and Australia — could bring up the UN fact-finding mission when the nation’s leaders meet with their Indonesian counterparts.

    “There has been several visits by the leaders but it seems like the issue of West Papua is not as important as the other issues such as trade,” he said.

    ‘Refusing to take responsibility’
    Former New Zealand Greens MP Catherine Delahunty said she felt frustrated that West Papua had not got the attention it should, especially considering it was in “our own backyard”.

    Nearly all foreign media has been banned from entering West Papua.

    “Anyone that criticises the regime has great difficulty getting into that country to report and local journalists are subjected to sustained threats and so we’re in a very unhealthy situation in terms of public understanding of just how drastic the situation is,” she said.

    Delahunty said Indonesia had been intimidating smaller nations, while larger ones like New Zealand and Australia were “refusing to act”.

    “They are refusing to take responsibility for their own part in allowing this to continue.”

    She said New Zealand and Australia could create consequences for Indonesia if it continued to not allow the fact-finding mission, by doing things like stopping military exchanges.

    A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said New Zealand “follows human rights developments closely, and takes all allegations of human rights violations seriously”.

    “New Zealand continues to register concerns about the human rights situation in Papua via appropriate fora. New Zealand encourages Indonesia to promote and protect the rights of all its citizens, and to be transparent in policy relating to Papua.

    “New Zealand recognises Indonesia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, including in Papua.”

    In a statement to RNZ Pacific, the Indonesian Embassy in Wellington said the government of Indonesia was committed to accelerate the development of all provinces, “including our brothers and sisters in Papua”, to lead and enjoy a prosperous way of life.

    “Papua is highly respected as an honourable region and will continue to be maintained as such,” it said.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.


    This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Buttu debunks Israeli ‘myths’ about Gaza siege – ‘vital to break it’

    Kia Ora Gaza

    An international lawyer and former spokesperson for the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Diana Buttu, says it is a myth that the siege on Gaza began in 2006/2007.

    She has explained in a Gaza Freedom Flotilla video released on YouTube that Israel’s control and closure on Gaza started decades earlier.

    The Israeli militarily closed Gaza off from the world, continuously ignoring international law and diplomatic efforts to end the blockade, making this current genocide possible, said Buttu, a Palestinian-Canadian.

    Buttu argued that this made global efforts to break the siege on Gaza — foremost among them, the Freedom Flotilla—all the more imperative.

    “Look, the Israeli logic when it comes to Palestinians, is that what won’t be learned with force, will only be learned with more force.” she said.

    “One of the most important things right now is to break that siege and break that blockade”.

    Israel ‘could turn off the tap’
    She also said: “The reason why they [Israel] could turn off the tap, so to speak, was because of the fact that they had been maintaining such a brutal siege and blockade on the Gaza Strip.

    “Add that together, and you can see that the impact and the intent is genocide.’

    Kia Ora Gaza is the Aotearoa New Zealand affiliated member of the international Freedom Flotilla collective and several Kiwi participants re taking part.

    Among them are Auckland activists Youssef Sammour and Rana Hamida who left New Zealand last Sunday to join the volunteer crew on the international Freedom Flotilla ship Handala.

    Republished in collaboration with Kia Ora Gaza.


    Diana Buttu on the Biggest Myth About Israel’s Siege of Gaza.  Video: Freedom Flotilla

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • PNG ‘politicians, pastors’ supply weapons to fuel deadly tribal fights, says Enga leader

    By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist

    National politicians and pastors are fuelling the tribal fighting in Papua New Guinea by supplying guns and ammunition, says Enga’s Provincial Administrator Sandis Tsaka.

    Tsaka’s brother was killed a fortnight ago when a tribe on a war raid passed through his clan.

    “[My brother] was at home with his wife and kids and these people were trying to go to another village, and because he had crossed paths with them they just opened fire,” he said.

    Enga has seen consistent tribal violence since the 2022 national elections in the Kompiam-Ambum district. In May last year — as well as deaths due to tribal conflict — homes, churches and business were burnt to the ground.

    In February, dozens were killed in a gun battle.

    Subsequently, PNG’s lawmakers discussed the issue of gun violence in Parliament with both sides of the House agreeing that the issue is serious.

    “National politicians are involved; businessmen are involved; educated people, lawyers, accountants, pastors, well-to-do people, people that should be ambassadors for peace and change,” Tsaka said.

    Military style weapons
    Military style weapons are being used in the fighting.

    Tsaka said an M16 or AR-15 rifle retails for a minimum of K$30,000 (US$7710) while a round costs about K$100 (US$25).

    “The ordinary person cannot afford that,” he said.

    “These conflicts and wars are financed by well-to-do people with the resources.

    “We need to look at changing law and policy to go after those that finance and profit from this conflict, instead of just trying to arrest or hold responsible the small persons in the village with a rifle that is causing death and destruction.

    “Until and unless we go after these big wigs, this unfortunate situation that we have in the province will continue to be what it is.”

    Tsaka said addressing wrongs, in ways such as tribal fighting, was “ingrained in our DNA”.

    Motivation for peace
    After Tsaka’s brother died, he asked his clan not to retaliate and told his village to let the rule of law take its course instead.

    He said the cultural expectation for retaliation was there but his clan respected him as a leader.

    He hopes others in authority will use his brother’s death as motivation for peace.

    “If the other leaders did the same to their villages in the communities, we wouldn’t have this violence; we wouldn’t have all these killings and destruction.

    “We need to realise that law and order and peace is a necessary prerequisite to development.

    “If we don’t have peace, we can’t have school kids going to school; you can’t have hospitals; you can’t have roads; you can’t have free movement of people and goods and services.”

    Tsaka said education was needed to change perceptions around tribal fighting.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.


    This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Taiwan President Lai Ching-te Celebrates Whampoa Military Academy Centennial| Radio Free Asia (RFA)


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Taiwan President Lai Ching-te Celebrates Whampoa Military Academy Centennial| Radio Free Asia (RFA)


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Kanaky New Caledonia unrest: FLNKS congress postponed due to splits

    By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk

    The national congress of New Caledonia’s pro-independence platform, the FLNKS, was postponed at the weekend due to major differences between its hard-line component and its more moderate parties.

    The FLNKS is the Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front.

    It consists of several pro-independence parties, including the Kanak Liberation Party (PALIKA), the Progressist Union in Melanesia (UPM) and the more radical and largest Union Calédonienne (UC).

    In recent months, following a perceived widening rift between the moderate and hard-line components of the pro-independence umbrella, UC has revived a so-called “Field Action Coordination Cell” (CCAT).

    This has been increasingly active from October 2023 and more recently during the series of actions that erupted into roadblocks, riots, looting and arson.

    CCAT mainly consists of radical political parties, trade unions within the pro-independence movement.

    The 43rd FLNKS congress, in that context, was regarded as “crucial” over several key points.

    Stance over unrest
    These include the platform’s stance on the ongoing unrest and which action to take next and a response to a call to lift all remaining roadblocks — but also the pro-independence movement’s fielding of candidates to contest the French snap general election to be held on June 30 and July 7.

    There are two seats and constituencies for New Caledonia in the French National Assembly.

    Organising the 43rd FLNKS Congress, convened in the small village of Netchaot — near the town of Koné north of the main island — was this year the responsibility of moderate PALIKA.

    It started to take place on Saturday, June 15, under heavy security from the organisers, who followed a policy of systematic searches of all participants, including party leaders, local media reported.

    However, the UC delegation arrived three hours late, around midday.

    A meeting of all component party leaders was held for about one hour, behind closed doors, public broadcaster NC la 1ère reported yesterday.

    It was later announced that the congress, including a much-awaited debate on sensitive points, would not go on and had been “postponed”.

    CCAT militants waiting
    The main bone of contention was the fact that a large group of CCAT militants were being kept waiting in their vehicles on the road to the small village, with the hope of being allowed to take part in the FLNKS congress, with the support of UC.

    But hosts and organisers made it clear that this was not acceptable and could be seen as an attempt from the radical movement to take over the whole of FLNKS.

    They said they had concerns about the security of the whole event if the CCAT’s numerous militants were allowed in.

    On Thursday and Friday last week, ahead of the FLNKS gathering, CCAT had organised its own general assembly in the town of Bourail — on the west coast of the main island — with an estimated 300-plus militants in attendance.

    Moderate components of the FLNKS and organisers also made clear on Saturday that if and when the postponed congress resumed at another date, all roadblocks still in place throughout New Caledonia should be lifted.

    In a separate media release last week, PALIKA had already called on all blockades in New Caledonia to be removed so that freedom of movement could be restored, especially at a time when voters were being called to the polls later this month as part of the French snap general election.

    Candidates deadline
    As the deadline for lodging candidates expired on Sunday, it was announced that the FLNKS, as an umbrella group, did not field any.

    On its part, UC had separately fielded two candidates, Omaira Naisseline and Emmanuel Tjibaou, one for each of the two constituencies.

    Earlier this month, UC president Daniel Goa said he was now aimed at proclaiming New Caledonia’s independence on 24 September 2025.

    The date coincides with the anniversary of France’s colonisation of New Caledonia on 24 September 1853.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • PM Luxon talks doubling RSE in PNG – plane breakdown almost derails Japan

    RNZ Pacific

    The leaders of Papua New Guinea and New Zealand have discussed a refreshed partnership that could boost the number of places for short-term RSE horticultural workers coming to Aotearoa.

    Christopher Luxon had a stopover in Papua New Guinea yesterday while en route to Japan with a business delegation, and met with PNG Prime Minister James Marape.

    But the Japan leg of the trip was almost derailed when Luxon had to leave most of his delegation behind in Papua New Guinea when the RNZ Air Force plane he was travelling on broke down.

    Luxon was only supposed to be in Port Moresby for 90 minutes while the Boeing 757 was refuelled.

    After an hour’s delay, a Defence Force spokesperson confirmed the aircraft had blown two fuses, forcing the prime minister to take a commercial flight.

    In Port Moresby, Marape and Luxon discussed regional issues, a new partnership agreement between the countries expected to be signed before September, and the expansion of the RSE (Recognised Seasonal Employer) worker programme.

    The programme allows workers from participating Pacific countries to fill short-term roles in New Zealand’s horticulture industry.

    Workers well-respected
    The workers from PNG were well-respected in New Zealand, Luxon said.

    “We personally think we need to double the amount of RSE workers that we have in New Zealand, from 19,000 up to about 38,000 . . . over a period of time.

    “So that it’s actually digestible to the countries where those workers are coming from, but also to make sure we’ve got the right accommodation in place and all the investments have happened in those horticultural farms.

    “That’s something that we’ll consider through the statement of partnership, with the view of how does that help PNG . . . so that when those workers go to New Zealand they learn a set of skills that they can advance in New Zealand but also ultimately bring back here to Papua New Guinea.”

    Marape said he hoped the workers would be able to earn qualifications while in New Zealand.

    New Zealand and PNG both shared ambitions to increase their exports, Luxon said, and should work together on that more.


    Luxon talks to media from PNG.   Video: RNZ News

    Landslide killed thousands
    New Zealand’s assistance after a massive landslide in PNG’s Enga province had been very welcome, Marape said.

    The landslide in late May is believed to have killed thousands, and affected about 10,000 people.

    Defence forces from New Zealand were sent to distribute supplies in the remote area, and funds were now being funnelled through non-government organisations, Luxon said.

    “We’re open to helping any way we can. Initially, it was about getting supplies into the region using some of our defence assets . . .  we did talk about geotech where there’s expertise we can bring.

    “It’s a pretty tragic set of events – it’s in a very remote part of the country, it’s difficult to access, and we stand ready to help.”

    Luxon in PNG
    NZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon being welcomed to Port Moresby. Image: Nathan McKinnon/RNZ

    Luxon’s visit was warmly welcomed, Marape said.

    “New Zealand has a senior presence in our part of Planet Earth.

    ‘Quality interventions’
    “[It] has always made quality interventions in PNG matters over the last 49 years we’ve been independent; they’ve always had an active presence in our country.

    “The future is where we will not take each other for granted but we consolidate on our past … and create a shared future that is mutually beneficial for both nations.”

    Luxon also underlined the value of the relationship New Zealand holds with PNG.

    “Papua New Guinea is such a critical relationship to us, it’s a relationship that matters,” he said.

    “We want to continue to move forward and … deepen our partnership, that’s why we’re hopeful … we’ll be able to sign an enhanced statement of partnership, a renewed statement about how our countries are going to work together.”

    The pair planned to hold further discussions at the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Tonga, on August 26-30.

    Luxon had also been invited to Papua New Guinea for the country’s 50th anniversary of independence in September 2025.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Education head condemns Israel’s ‘shameful’ ruin of UN schools in Gaza

    Asia Pacific Report

    Israel’s targeting of educational institutes across Gaza is “shameful” and contributing to a global crisis for students, says the head of an educational foundation.

    Talal al-Hathal, director of the Al Fakhoora Programme at Education Above All foundation in Qatar, said: “War has exacerbated the plight of Gaza’s educational sector.”

    Israel’s targeting of educational institutes across Gaza was “shameful as we consider the global education crisis where we see that more than 250 million children are out of school globally”, said Al-Hathal.

    Hundreds of educational institutes in Gaza, including schools run by the UN, have been bombed, and students and teachers killed.

    The attacks have ravaged educational infrastructure and caused mental trauma to thousands of beleaguered students.

    “The war will undoubtedly leave educational institutions, access to critical infrastructure, and the regularity of the education process in Gaza in a worse state than before the war,” al-Hathal told Al Jazeera.

    “With almost 400 school buildings in Gaza sustaining damage, the war has exacerbated the plight of the educational sector.

    “This damage is compounded by the internal displacement with these schools now serving as shelters and hosting nearly four times their intended capacity, further burdening the already strained educational infrastructure.”

    Jordan’s king laments ‘Gaza failure’
    Meanwhile, Jordan’s king has said the international community has failed to find solution to the Gaza war

    Speaking at the G7 summit in Italy, Jordan’s King Abdullah II has called the greatest threat to the Middle East region was the continued occupation of Palestine by Israel.

    As the latest attempt to reach an agreement that could lead to a full ceasefire remains stalled, he said the international community had not done enough to bring about peace.

    “The international community has failed to achieve the only solution that guarantees the security of the Palestinians, Israelis, the region and the world,” he said.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Was the US military involved in Israel’s heinous market massacre?


    This content originally appeared on The Grayzone and was authored by The Grayzone.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • French Polynesia hosts ‘Marara’ military exercise for Asia-Pacific

    By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk

    French Polynesia has just played host to a 15-nation “Marara” military exercise aimed at increasing “interoperability” between participating armed forces.

    From May 27 to June 8, the exercise involved about 1000 military from Australia, New Zealand, United States, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Tonga, Fiji, Canada, the Netherlands and Peru.

    For the occasion, Japan’s helicopter carrier LST Kunisaki was used as a joint command post in what is described as a realistic simulation of an international relief operation to assist a fictitious Pacific island country struck by a grave natural disaster.

    Military transport planes and patrol boats were also brought into the exercise by participating countries.

    “Marara 2024 illustrates France’s commitment to reinforce security and stability in the Pacific . . . and its ability to cooperate with nations of the region for the benefit of the people,” the French Armed forces in French Polynesia said in a media release.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Active-Duty US Service Members Issue Appeal to Congress to Stop Funding Genocide

    On June 4, a coalition of active-duty service members, veterans and G.I. rights groups launched a campaign called Appeal for Redress V2 to encourage military personnel to tell Congress to stop funding genocide in Gaza. Israel’s genocidal operation, now in its ninth month, has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 85,000. The campaign is sponsored by Veterans For Peace (VFP)…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • China gives 6 patrol boats to Myanmar’s military junta

    China has delivered six patrol boats to Myanmar’s military junta, fulfilling a promise made in 2020 to the country’s previous democratically elected civilian government, the Chinese Embassy said in a statement on Wednesday.

    The patrol boats that were handed over in Yangon on Tuesday will be used in law enforcement efforts to control gambling and drug trafficking and in rescue and water resources protection activities, the embassy said.

    But a former army officer, who wished not to be named for security reasons, told RFA that the vessels could also be useful for naval military operations in Rakhine state, which has several well-traveled rivers and an Indian Ocean coastline.

    Rakhine state has seen intense fighting between military junta troops and the ethnic minority insurgent Arakan Army since last November.

    “If these boats are modified a little bit, weapons could be installed,” the former army officer said. 

    ENG_BUR_CHINA BOATS_06122024.2.jpg
    A navy patrol boat donated by China is docked at Lanmataw jetty in Yangon, Myanmar, June 12, 2024. (RFA)

    Four of the patrol boats are 48 meters long (157 feet), and the other two are 28 meters long (91 feet), the embassy said.

    The civilian government under the National League for Democracy first requested the vessels in 2018.

    China’s projects in Rakhine

    An agreement was made in 2020 during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s two-day visit to Myanmar, in which several deals were signed to implement multibillion dollar infrastructure projects under the Belt and Road Initiative.

    The projects include a US$1.3 billion deep-sea port in Rakhine state’s Kyaukphyu, as well as the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, a 620 km (1,000 mile) high-speed railway and road network that will run from China’s Kunming city through Myanmar’s major economic hubs and on to the port.

    The corridor will ultimately give China crucial access to the Indian Ocean at Kyaukphyu.

    The military junta removed the civilian government and seized power in February 2021.

    A resident of Kyaukphyu township who closely monitors the Chinese projects told RFA that the Chinese ambassador visited Kyaukphyu on Monday.

    Human Rights Watch found in 2022 that the Myanmar junta had used Japan-funded passenger ships during military operations in Rakhine state.

    “The Myanmar junta’s misuse of Japanese development aid for military purposes effectively makes Japan a backer of the junta’s military operations,” Asia program officer Teppei Kasai said at the time.

    When asked via email on Wednesday if the patrol boats could be used for military purposes, the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar directed RFA to a statement posted on its Facebook page.

    RFA’s attempts to contact junta spokesman Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun to ask about the patrol boats were unsuccessful on Wednesday.

    Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Burmese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Kanaky New Caledonia unrest: Fiji, PNG call for UN decolonisation mission

    BenarNews staff

    Fiji and Papua New Guinea have urged the UN’s Decolonisation Committee to expedite a visit to the French-controlled Pacific territory of Kanaky New Caledonia following its pro-independence riots last month.

    Nine people have died, dozens were injured and businesses were torched during unrest in the capital Noumea triggered by the French government’s move to dilute the voting power of New Caledonia’s indigenous Kanak people.

    Fiji’s permanent representative to the UN, Filipo Tarakinikini, whose statement was also on behalf of Papua New Guinea, spoke yesterday of the two countries’ “serious concern” at the disproportionate number of Kanaks who had lost their lives since the onset of the crisis.

    “We underscore that New Caledonia can best be described as a fork in the road situation,” Tarakinikini told the committee session at UN headquarters in New York.

    “History is replete with good lessons,” he said, “to navigate such situations toward peaceful resolution. Today we have heard yet again loud and clear what colonisation does to a people.”

    Tarakinikini said Fiji and Papua New Guinea want the UN’s Special Committee on Decolonisation to send a visiting mission to New Caledonia as soon as possible to get first-hand knowledge of the situation.

    He also criticised militarisation of the island after France sent hundreds of police and troops with armoured personnel carriers to restore order. Unrest has continued despite the security reinforcements.

    ‘Taking up arms no solution’
    “Taking up arms against each other is not the solution, nor is the militarisation and fortification by authorities in the territory the correct signal in our Blue Pacific continent,” Tarakinikini said.

    PIC 220240610 UN C24 Fiji.png
    Fiji’s permanent representative to the UN, Filipo Tarakinikini, addresses the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation (C24), in New York on on Monday. Image: UN Web TV

    New Caledonia’s international airport remains closed, preventing pro-independence President Louis Mapou and other representatives from traveling to the UN committee.

    Rioting is estimated by the local chamber of commerce to have caused US$200 million in economic damage, with 7000 jobs lost.

    The decolonisation committee was established by the UN General Assembly in 1961 to monitor implementation of the international commitment to granting independence to colonised peoples. Today, some 17 territories, home to 2 million people and mostly part of the former British empire, are under its purview.

    Fiji and Papua New Guinea are both long-term committee members, which has listed New Caledonia as a UN non-self-governing territory under French administration since 1986.

    In the Pacific, American Samoa, French Polynesia, Guam, Pitcairn and Tokelau also remain on the list.

    Representatives of civil society organisations who spoke to the committee criticised France’s control of New Caledonia and blamed it for triggering the crisis.

    Loyalists talk of ‘coup’
    Loyalists who made submissions likened the riots to a coup and a deliberate sabotage of what they said was the previous consensus between Kanaks and French immigrants, “forcing those who do not adhere to the independence project to leave.”

    France’s statement to the meeting appeared to blame outside forces for fomenting unrest.

    “Certain external actors, far from the region, seek to fuel tensions through campaigns to manipulate information,” the country’s delegate said, adding the European country would “continue its cooperation with the UN, including during this key period.”

    French National Assembly member from French Guiana Jean Victor Castor warned the country had entered a “new phase of colonial repression.”

    Castor also called on the U.N. to send a mission to “encourage France to respect its commitments and pursue the path of concerted decolonisation, the only guarantee of a return to peace.”

    000_34W47UQ.jpg
    Burned cars are seen on Plum Pass, an important road through Monte-Dore in New Caledonia on Monday. Monte-Dore is cut off from the capital Noumea by roadblocks weeks after deadly riots erupted in the Pacific island territory. Image: AFP/BenarNews

    French control of New Caledonia gives the European nation a significant security and diplomatic role in the Pacific at a time when the US, Australia and other Western countries are pushing back against China’s inroads in the region.

    New Caledonia, home to about 270,000 people, also has valuable nickel deposits that are among the world’s largest.

    Unrest worst since 1980s
    The unrest was the worst political violence in the Pacific territory since the 1980s. The riots erupted on May 12 as the lower house of France’s National Assembly debated and subsequently approved a constitutional amendment to unfreeze New Caledonia’s electoral roll, which would give the vote to thousands of French immigrants.

    Final approval of the amendment requires a joint sitting of France’s lower house and Senate.

    On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said such efforts should be suspended following his call earlier this week for a snap general election in France, Agence France-Presse reports.

    “I have decided to suspend it, because we can’t leave things ambiguous in this period,” Macron said, according to the international news service.

    Referendums held in 2018 and 2020 under the UN-mandated decolonisation process produced modest majorities in favor of remaining part of France.

    Less than half of New Caledonians voted in the third and final referendum in 2021 that overwhelmingly backed staying part of France.

    The vote was boycotted by the Kanak independence movement after it was brought forward without consultation by the French government during a serious phase of the covid-19 pandemic, which restricted campaigning.

    Mareva Lechat-Kitalong, Delegate for International, European and Pacific Affairs of French Polynesia, told the committee what happened with New Caledonia’s third referendum should “not happen again for a question so fundamental as independence or not.”

    She also urged France to commit to a roadmap for French Polynesia that “fully supports a proper decolonisation process and self-determination process under the scrutiny of the United Nations.”

    Copyright ©2015-2024, BenarNews. Republished with the permission of BenarNews.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Nick Rockel: RIMPAC 2024 training – NZ’s sabre dance with Israel ͏

    COMMENTARY: By Nick Rockel in Tāmaki Makaurau

    This morning I did something I seldom do, I looked at the Twitter newsfeed.

    Normally I take the approach of something that I’m not sure is an American urban legend, or genuinely something kids do over there. The infamous bag of dog poo on the front porch, set it on fire then ring the doorbell so the occupier will answer and seeing the flaming bag stamp it out.

    In doing so they obviously disrupt the contents of the bag, quite forcefully, distributing it’s contents to the surprise, and annoyance, of said stamper.

    So that’s normally what I do. Deposit a tweet on that platform, then duck for cover. In the scenario above the kid doesn’t hang around afterwards to see what the resident made of their prank.

    I’m the same with Twitter. Get in, do what you’ve got to do, then get the heck out of there and enjoy the carnage from a distance.

    But this morning I clicked on the Home button and the first tweet that came up in my feed was about an article in The Daily Blog:

    Surely not?

    I know our government hasn’t exactly been outspoken in condemning the massacre of Palestinians that has been taking place since last October — but we’re not going to take part in training exercises with them, are we? Surely not.

    A massacre — not a rescue
    A couple of days ago I was thinking about the situation in Gaza, and the recent so-called rescue of hostages that is being celebrated.

    Look, I get it that every life is precious, that to the families of those hostages all that matters is getting them back alive. But four hostages freed and 274 Palestinians killed in the process — that isn’t a rescue — that’s a massacre.

    Another one.

    It reminds me of the “rescues” of the 1970s where they got the bad guys, but all the good guys ended up dead as well. According to some sources, and there are no really reliable sources here, the rescue also resulted in the deaths of three hostages.

    While looking at reports on this training exercise, one statistic jumped out at me:

    Israel has dropped more bombs on Gaza in eight months than were dropped on London, Hamburg and Dresden during the full six years of the Second World War. Israel is dropping these bombs on one of the most densely populated communities in the world.

    It’s beyond comprehension. Think of how the Blitz in London is seared into our consciousness as being a terrible time — and how much worse this is.

    Firestorm of destruction
    As for Dresden, what a beautiful city. I remember when Fi and I were there back in 2001, arriving at the train station, walking along the river. Such a fabulous funky place. Going to museums — there was an incredible exhibition on Papua New Guinea when we were there, it seemed so incongruous to be on the other side of the world looking at exhibits of a Pacific people.

    Most of all though I remember the rebuilt cathedral and the historical information about the bombing of that city at the end of the war. A firestorm of utter destruction. Painstakingly rebuilt, over decades, to its former beauty. Although you can still see the scars.

    The ruins of Dresden following the Allied bombing in February 1945
    The ruins of Dresden following the Allied bombing in February 1945 . . . about 25,000 people were killed. Image: www.military-history.org

    Nobody will be rebuilding Gaza into a beautiful place when this is done.

    The best case for the Palestinians at this point would be some sort of peacekeeping force on the ground and then decades of rebuilding. Everything. Schools, hospitals, their entire infrastructure has been destroyed — in scenes that we associate with the most destructive war in human history.

    And we’re going to take part in training exercises with the people who are causing all of that destruction, who are massacring tens of thousands of civilians as if their lives don’t matter. Surely not.

    NZ ‘honour and mana stained’
    From Martyn Bradbury’s article in The Daily Blog:

    It is outrageous in the extreme that the NZ Defence Force will train with the Israeli Defence Force on June 26th as part of the US-led (RIMPAC) naval drills!

    Our military’s honour and mana is stained by rubbing shoulders with an Army that is currently accused of genocide and conducting a real time ethnic cleansing war crime.

    It’s like playing paintball with the Russian Army while they are invading the Ukraine.

    RIMPAC, the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise, is held in Hawai’i every second year. The name indicates a focus on the Pacific Rim, although many countries attend.

    In 2024 there will be ships and personnel attending from 29 countries. The usual suspects you’d expect in the region — like the US, the Aussies, Canada, and some of our Pacific neighbours. But also countries from further abroad like France and Germany. As well of course as the Royal NZ Navy and the Israeli Navy.

    Which is pretty weird. I know Israel have to pretend they’re in Europe for things like sporting competitions or Eurovision, with their neighbours unwilling to include them. But what on earth does Israel have to do with the Pacific Rim?

    Needless to say those who oppose events in Gaza are not overly excited about us working together with the military force that’s doing almost all of the killing.

    “We are calling on our government to withdraw from the exercise because of Israel’s ongoing industrial-scale slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza”, said Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) national chair, John Minto.

    “Why would we want to join with a lawless, rogue state which has demonstrated the complete suite of war crimes over the past eight months?”

    Whatever you might think of John Minto, he has a point.

    Trade and travel embargo
    Personally I think we, and others, should be undertaking a complete trade and travel embargo with Israel until the killing stops. The least we can do is not rub shoulders with them as allies. That’s pretty repugnant. I can’t imagine many young Kiwis signed up to serve their country like that.

    The PSNA press release said, “Taking part in a military event alongside Israel will leave an indelible stain on this country. It will be a powerful symbol of New Zealand complicity with Israeli war crimes. It’s not on!”

    Aotearoa is not the only country in which such participation is being questioned. In Malaysia, for example, a group of NGOs are urging the government there to withdraw:

    “On May 24, the ICJ explicitly called for a halt in Israel’s Rafah onslaught. The Israeli government and opposition leaders, in line with the behaviour of a rogue lawless state, have scornfully dismissed the ICJ ruling,” it said.

    “The world should stop treating it like a normal, law-abiding state if it wants Israeli criminality in Gaza and the West Bank to stop.

    “We reiterate our call on the Malaysian government to immediately withdraw from Rimpac 2024 to drive home that message,” it said.

    What do you think about our country taking part in this event, alongside Israel Military Forces, at this time?

    Complicit as allies
    To me it feels that in doing so we are in a small way complicit. By coming together as allies, in our region of the world, we’re condoning their actions with our own.

    Valerie Morse of Peace Action Wellington had the following to say about New Zealand’s involvement in the military exercises:

    “The depth and breadth of suffering in Palestine is beyond imagination. The brutality of the Israeli military knows no boundaries. This is who [Prime Minister] Christopher Luxon and Defence Minister Judith Collins have signed the NZ military up to train alongside.

    “New Zealand must immediately halt its participation in RIMPAC. The HMNZS Aotearoa must be re-routed back home to Taranaki.

    “This is not the first time that Israel has been a participant in RIMPAC so it would not have been a surprise to the NZ government. It would have been quite easy to take the decision to stay out of RIMPAC given what is happening in Palestine. That Luxon and Collins have not done so shows that they lack even a basic moral compass.”

    The world desperately needs strong moral leadership at this time, it needs countries to take a stand against Israel and speak up for what is right.

    There’s only so much that a small country like ours can do, but we can hold our heads high and refuse to have anything to do with Israel until they stop the killing.

    Is that so hard Mr Luxon?

    Nick Rockel is a “Westie Leftie with five children, two dogs, and a wonderful wife”. He is the publisher of Nick’s Kōrero where this article was first published. It is republished here with permission. Read on to subscribe to Nick’s substack articles.


    This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Exploring gender equality in international affairs

    The appointment of prominent businesswoman Sam Mostyn as Australia’s 28th Governor-General was met with backlash from some quarters of the media who questioned her suitability for the role and seemed to imply Mostyn was only selected for the position because of her gender.

    While such a reaction is unfortunately not surprising it asks an incredibly important question: who gets to represent Australia and why are there still such negative reactions to women being in prominent leadership roles?

    This question is at the centre of the new book, ‘The Face of the Nation: Gendered Institutions in International Affairs’ by Elsie Stephenson who takes a look at female representation in both the domestic and international political sphere.

    Elise Stephenson is Deputy Director of the Australian National University Global Institute for Women’s Leadership and spent hundreds of hours interviewing prominent female political leaders and diplomats over the course of 30 years.

    The image that a country portrays to the rest of the world often occurs through the various diplomats that come to foster relationships with other nations. However the people that make up these representative positions often aren’t accurate reflections of a country’s demographics.

    When the US-based Australian embassy was asked to create a list of ‘true Australians’ that embodied values of respect, friendship and collaboration they issued a list made up of exclusively men who were predominantly older, white and heterosexual.

    And this is certainly not an isolated incident with the realm of international diplomacy being guided by what Stephenson calls “the rules of masculinity.”

    At an event hosted by the ANU last month, Stephenson spoke with former Foreign Affairs Minister and current Chancellor of the Australian National University about her research and the broader implications lack of gender diversity has on world affairs. (Watch the whole event in the video below.)

    “Although we are all able to name several high-profile women in positions of power, they still remain a novelty in political spaces and come to face unique challenges compared to their male counterparts,” Stephenson said.

    “There remains a lack of understanding of women’s pathways, their experiences, as well as some of the gender challenges that continue to exist and evolve.”

    And while Stephenson notes that Australia’s international agencies fare better than many other countries – with 58% of all our diplomats being women – barriers to equality remain that go deeper than surface level numbers.

    “Although we are now seeing places like DFAT reach parity or near parity when it comes to women’s representation, we know that across all of our international affairs’ institutions we can’t rest when we do get that representation,” she said.

    Dr Elise Stephenson (left) sat down with Australia’s first female foreign minister, and Chancellor of the Australian National University, the Hon. Julie Bishop (centre) to discuss the lack of gender representation and diversity in international affairs. The event was facilitated by Professor Susan Harris-Rimmer (right). Picture: Supplied

    Dr Elise Stephenson (left) sat down with Australia’s first female foreign minister, and Chancellor of the Australian National University, the Hon. Julie Bishop (centre) to discuss the lack of gender representation and diversity in international affairs. The event was facilitated by Professor Susan Harris-Rimmer (right). Picture: Supplied

    One of the key findings of Stephenson’s research was that Australia is still significantly lacking in gender representation in the Defence and policing sphere which has ramifications for women due to the increasing securitisation of international affairs.

    This only causes more issues for women’s representation as Australia’s diplomatic role in the world appears to be shrinking.

    “What I found in essence was that women are only now gaining parity in diplomacy right at the point in time when Australian diplomacy has been at its lowest point…our international footprint is decreasing,” she said.

    “This is particularly concerning because we often think of diplomacy as our first line of defence but when we see this underfunding and under-resourcing a lot of issues begin to emerge.”

    “Women’s role in leadership is ultimately constrained by the status of the institution in which they occupy – women still face a glass cliff.”

    Julie Bishop also heavily pressed on the reality that gender representation and equality greatly impact the diversity of opinions present in diplomatic engagements and political decisions, ultimately determining what Australia cares about.

    “Normalising women in these positions is crucial,” Bishop said.

    “I certainly observed the securitisation of our foreign policy and the rise of border force being built under male ministers and I can say that it goes against every fibre of my being to spend less money on diplomacy and more on defence.”

    “As Australia’s first female foreign minister I remember walking through the halls of DFAT and seeing 37 men who all looked remarkably similar along the walls…from then on I saw it as my responsibility that if I was the first woman to take on a role I should do everything I can to make it easier for the next woman to follow me.”

    Dr Elise Stephenson

    Dr Elise Stephenson speaking at the event. Picture: Supplied

    And the need for women in leadership roles is certainly crucial with gender representation in international affairs being correlated to everything from lower levels of interstate violence to higher levels of collaboration and consensus between core international partners.

    Women even bring unique styles of leadership to crisis moments that in some instances outweigh the performances of male leaders.

    In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic there was much discussion about which countries performed better and the roles different state leaders played in reducing the spread of the virus.

    One interesting pattern that emerged quite early on during the crisis was that female leaders were seen to have handled the health emergency remarkably well.

    Countries led by women were found to have performed better than those led by men, especially in terms of death rates. Female-led nations locked down significantly earlier and more decisively than male-led countries .

    Studies suggest that men are more likely to lead in a “task-oriented” way while women tend to lead in an “interpersonally-oriented” manner. As a result, women tend to adopt a more democratic style of leadership and even tend to have better communication skills than their male counterparts.

    Women leaders also tend to place more emphasis on developing positive relationships with others and are less likely to avoid making decisions or exercising authority.

    Referring back to the negative reactions to Sam Mostyn’s appointment as Governor General, Stephenson also spoke about the necessity to address the uptick in right-wing extremism and online misogyny in recent years.

    “There are a lot of ways in which backlash occurs and it is a really classic way of delegitimising someone’s background and the fact that they could be in positions like this,” she said.

    “We are well past the point of the myth of the meritocracy – it doesn’t exist.”

    “Was she the best person? In this case absolutely. But we have to recognise the system of meritocracy was broken in the first place otherwise we would already have a far more diverse cohort represented in all forms of leadership.”

    “And really, haven’t all of the men that have come before her only gotten the position because of their gender?”

    Bishop added that she had seen the impacts the exclusion of women can have on a nation during her time as Australia’s first female foreign affairs minister.

    “When women are part of the discussion on how we’re going to resolve a crisis…you simply get a better outcome,” she said.

    “When women are excluded, there is a fundamental part missing.”

    • Picture at top: Julie Bishop speaking at the launch of ‘The Face of the Nation: Gendered Institutions in International Affairs’ by Elise Stephenson. Picture: Supplied

    The post Exploring gender equality in international affairs appeared first on BroadAgenda.

    This post was originally published on BroadAgenda.

  • “Massacre”: Analyst Slams Israeli Military Raid That Frees 4 Hostages, Kills 270+ Palestinians


    This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • “Massacre”: Analyst Slams Israeli Military Raid That Frees 4 Hostages, Kills 270+ Palestinians

    Seg2 omar hospital

    Israel’s weekend attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp that freed four Israeli hostages and killed at least 274 Palestinians and wounded nearly 700 was reportedly supported by the Biden administration, which provided intelligence to Israel ahead of the raid. “There’s no question that what unfolded in that operation was a massacre,” says Palestinian American political analyst Omar Baddar. “To look at a death toll of this scale and then to celebrate this kind of operation as some sort of success, you would basically have to openly say that the lives of Israelis are more valuable than the lives of Palestinians.” Baddar discusses the political and humanitarian impact of the raid and his outlook on ceasefire negotiations. “When push comes to shove, the Biden administration is unwilling to apply any meaningful pressure on Israel,” he says. “That dynamic is not going to lead to anything positive.”


    This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • History ‘replaying itself’ in Kanaky but growing Pacific solidarity, says Tau

    French President Emmanuel Macron, who visited Kanaky New Caledonia last month in a largely failed bid to solve the French Pacific territory’s political deadlock, has called a snap election following the decisive victory of the rightwing bloc among French members of the European Parliament. Don Wiseman reports.

    By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist

    A group of 32 civil society organisations is writing to the French President Emmanuel Macron calling on him to change his stance toward the indigenous people of New Caledonia.

    The group said it strongly supported the call by the FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front) and other pro-independence groups that only a non-violent response to the crisis will lead to a viable solution.

    And it said President Macron must heed the call for an Eminent Persons Group to ensure the current crisis is resolved peacefully and impartiality is restored to the decolonisation process.

    Don Wiseman spoke with Joey Tau, of the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG), one of the civil society bodies involved.

    Joey Tau: Don, I just want to thank you for this opportunity, but also it is to really highlight France’s and, in this case, the Macron administration’s inability of fulfilling the Nouméa Accord in our statements, in our numerous statements, and you would have seen statements from around the region — there have been numerous events or incidents that have led to where Kanaky New Caledonia is at in its present state, with the Kanaks themselves not happy with where they’re headed to, in terms of negotiating a pathway with Paris.

    You understand the referendums — three votes went ahead, or rather, the third vote went ahead, during a time when the world was going through a global pandemic. And the Kanaks had clearly, prior to the third referendum, called on Paris to halt, but yet France went ahead and imposed a third referendum.

    Thus, the Kanaks boycotted the third referendum. All of these have just led up to where the current tension is right now.

    The recent electoral proposal by France is a slap for Kanaks, who have been negotiating, trying to find a path. So in general, the concern that Pacific regional NGOs and civil societies not only in the Pacific, but at the national level in the Pacific, are concerned about France’s ongoing attempt to administer Kanaky New Caledonia [and] its inability to fulfill the Nouméa Accord.

    Don Wiseman: In terms of stopping the violence and opening the dialogue, the problem I suppose a lot of people in New Caledonia and the French government itself might argue is that Kanaks have been heavily involved in quite a lot of violence that’s gone down in the last few weeks. So how do you square that?

    JT: It has been growing, it has been a growing tension, Don, that this is not to ignore the growing military presence and the security personnel build up. You had roughly about 3000 military personnel or security personnel deployed in Nouméa on in Kanaky within two weeks, I think . . .

    DW: Yes, but businesses were being burned down, houses were being burned down.

    JT: Well as regional civil societies we condemn all forms of violence, and thus we have been calling for peaceful means of restoring peace talks, but this is not to ignore the fact that there is a growing military buildup. The ongoing military buildup needs to be also carefully looked at as it continues to instigate tension on the ground, limiting people, limiting the indigenous peoples movements.

    And it just brings you back to, you know, the similar riots that had [in the 1980s] before New Caledonia came to an accord, as per the Nouméa Accord. It’s history replaying itself. So like I said earlier on, it generally highlights France’s inability to hold peace talks for the pathway forward for Kanaky/New Caledonia.

    In this PR statement we’ve been calling on that we need neutral parties — we need a high eminence group of neutral people to facilitate the peace talks between Kanaks and France.

    DW: So this eminent persons to be drawn from who and where?

    JT: Well the UNC 24 committee meets [this] week. We are calling on the UN to initiate a high eminence persons but this is to facilitate these together with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. Have independent Pacific leaders intervene and facilitate peace talks between both the Kanak pro=independence leaders and of course Macron and his administration.

    DW: So you will be looking for the Eminent Persons group perhaps to be centrally involved in drawing up a new accord to replace the Nouméa Accord?

    JT: Well, I think as per the Nouméa Accord the Kanaks have been trying to negotiate the next phase, post the referendum. And I think this has sparked the current situation. So the civil societies’ call very much supports concerns on the ground who are willing, who are asking for experts or neutral persons from the region and internationally to intervene.

    And this could help facilitate a path forward between both parties. Should it be an accord or should it be the next phase? But we also have to remember New Caledonia Kanaky is on the list of the Committee of 24 which is the UN committee that is listed for decolonisation.

    So how do we progress a territory? I guess the question for France is how do they progress the territory that is listed to be decolonised, post these recent events, post the referendum and it has to be now.

    DW: Joey, you are currently at the Pacific Arts Festival in Hawai’i. There’s a lot of the Pacific there. Have issues like New Caledonia come up?

    JT: The opening ceremony, which launches [the] two-week long festival saw a different turn to it, where we had flags representing Kanaky New Caledonia, West Papua, flying so high at this opening ceremony. You had the delegation of Guam, who, in their grand entrance brought the Kanaky flag with them — a sense of solidarity.

    And when Fiji took the podium, it acknowledged countries and Pacific peoples that are not there to celebrate, rightfully.

    Fiji had acknowledged West Papua, New Caledonia, among others, and you can see a sense of regional solidarity and this growing consciousness as to the wider Pacific family when it comes to arts, culture and our way of being.

    So yeah, the opening ceremony was interesting, but it will be interesting to see how the festival pans out and how issues of the territories that are still under colonial administration get featured or get acknowledged within the festival — be it fashion, arts, dance, music, it’s going to be a really interesting feeling.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Defend ‘Pacific voice’ over geopolitics, climate crisis – keep pressure on decolonisation, Robie tells Wansolwara

    By Monika Singh in Suva

    New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) awardee Professor David Robie has called on young journalists to see journalism as a calling and not just a job.

    Dr Robie, who is also the editor of Asia Pacific Report and deputy chair of the Asia Pacific Media Network, was named in the King’s Birthday Honours list for “services to journalism and Asia Pacific media education”.

    He was named last Monday and the investiture ceremony is later this year.

    PACIFIC MEDIA CONFERENCE 4-6 JULY 2024
    PACIFIC MEDIA CONFERENCE 4-6 JULY 2024

    The University of the South Pacific’s head of journalism Associate Professor Shailendra Singh told Wansolwara News: “David’s mountain of work in media research and development, and his dedication to media freedom, speak for themselves.

    “I am one of the many Pacific journalists and researchers that he has mentored and inspired over the decades”.

    Dr Singh said this recognition was richly deserved.

    Dr Robie was head of journalism at USP from 1998 to 2002 before he resigned to join the Auckland University of Technology ane became an associate professor in the School of Communication Studies in 2005 and full professor in 2011.

    Close links with USP
    Since resigning from the Pacific university he has maintained close links with USP Journalism. He was the chief guest at the 18th USP Journalism awards in 2018.

    Retired AUT professor of journalism and communication studies and founder of the Pacific Media Centre Dr David Robie
    Retired AUT professor of journalism and communication studies and founder of the Pacific Media Centre Dr David Robie. Image: Alyson Young/APMN

    He has also praised USP Journalism and said it was “bounding ahead” when compared with the journalism programme at the University of Papua New Guinea, where he was the head of journalism from 1993 to 1997.

    Dr Robie has also co-edited three editions of Pacific Journalism Review (PJR) research journal with Dr Singh.

    He is a keynote speaker at the 2024 Pacific International Media Conference which is being hosted by USP’s School of Pacific Arts, Communications and Education (Journalism), in collaboration with the Pacific Island News Association (PINA) and the Asia-Pacific Media Network (APMN).

    The conference will be held from 4-6 July at the Holiday Inn, Suva. This year the PJR will celebrate its 30th year of publishing at the conference.

    The editors will be inviting a selection of the best conference papers to be considered for publication in a special edition of the PJR or its companion publication Pacific Media.

    Professor David Robie and associate professor and head of USP Journalism Shailendra Singh at the 18th USP Journalism Awards. Image: Wnsolwara/File

    Referring to his recognition for his contribution to journalism, Dr Robie told RNZ Pacific he was astonished and quite delighted but at the same time he felt quite humbled by it all.

    ‘Enormous support’
    “However, I feel that it’s not just me, I owe an enormous amount to my wife, Del, who is a teacher and designer by profession, and a community activist, but she has given journalism and me enormous support over many years and kept me going through difficult times.

    “There’s a whole range of people who have contributed over the years so it’s sort of like a recognition of all of us, especially all those who worked so hard for 13 years on the Pacific Media Centre when it was going. So, yes, it is a delight and I feel quite privileged.”

    Reflecting on his 50 years in journalism, Dr Robie believes that the level of respect for mainstream news media has declined.

    “This situation is partly through the mischievous actions of disinformation peddlers and manipulators, but it is partly our fault in media for allowing the lines between fact-based news and opinion/commentary to be severely compromised, particularly on television,” he told Wansolwara News.

    He said the recognition helped to provide another level of “mana” at a time when public trust in journalism had dropped markedly, especially since the covid-19 pandemic and the emergence of a “global cesspit of disinformation”.

    Dr Robie said journalists were fighting for the relevance of media today.

    “The Fourth Estate, as I knew it in the 1960s, has eroded over the last few decades. It is far more complex today with constant challenges from the social media behemoths and algorithm-driven disinformation and hate speech.”

    He urged journalists to believe in the importance of journalism in their communities and societies.

    ‘Believe in truth to power’
    “Believe in the contribution that we can make to understanding and progress. Believe in truth to power. Have courage, determination and go out and save the world with facts, compassion and rationality.”

    Despite the challenges, he believes that journalism is just as vital today, even more vital perhaps, than the past.

    “It is critical for our communities to know that they have information that is accurate and that they can trust. Good journalism and investigative journalism are the bulwark for an effective defence of democracy against the anarchy of digital disinformation.

    “Our existential struggle is the preservation of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa  — protecting our Pacific Ocean legacy for us all.”

    Dr Robie began his career with The Dominion in 1965, after part-time reporting while a trainee forester and university science student with the NZ Forest Service, and worked as an international journalist and correspondent for agencies from Johannesburg to Paris.

    In addition to winning several journalism awards, he received the 1985 Media Peace Prize for his coverage of the Rainbow Warrior bombing. He was on a 11-week voyage with the bombed ship and wrote the book Eyes of Fire about French and American nuclear testing.

    He also travelled overland across Africa and the Sahara Desert for a year in the 1970s while a freelance journalist.

    In 2015, he was awarded the AMIC Asian Communication Award in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

    Professor David Robie (second from right), and USP head of journalism Associate Professor Shailendra Singh, (left)
    Professor David Robie (second from right), and USP head of journalism Associate Professor Shailendra Singh, (left) with the winners of the 18th USP Journalism Awards in 2018. Image: Wansolwara/File

    Geopolitics, climate crisis and decolonisation
    Dr Robie mentions geopolitics and climate crisis as two of the biggest issues for the Pacific, with the former being largely brought upon by major global players, mainly the US, Australia and China.

    He said it was important for the Pacific to create its own path and not become pawns or hostages to this geopolitical rivalry, adding that it was critically important for news media to retain its independence and a critical distance.

    “The latter issue, climate crisis, is one that the Pacific is facing because of its unique geography, remoteness and weather patterns. It is essential to be acting as one ‘Pacific voice’ to keep the globe on track over the urgent solutions needed for the world. The fossil fuel advocates are passé and endangering us all.

    “Journalists really need to step up to the plate on seeking climate solutions.”

    Dr Robie also shared his views on the recent upheaval in New Caledonia.

    “In addition to many economic issues for small and remote Pacific nations, are the issues of decolonisation. The events over the past three weeks in Kanaky New Caledonia have reminded us that unresolved decolonisation issues need to be centre stage for the Pacific, not marginalised.”

    According to Dr Robie concerted Pacific political pressure, and media exposure, needs to be brought to bear on both France over Kanaky New Caledonia and “French” Polynesia, or Māohi Nui, and Indonesia with West Papua.

    He called on the Pacific media to step up their scrutiny and truth to power role to hold countries and governments accountable for their actions.

    Monika Singh is editor-in-chief of Wansolwara, the online and print publication of the USP Journalism Programme. Published in partnership with Wansolwara.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Cheney’s Legacy Lives On Within Intel Agencies & Popular Heart Pump Linked To Multiple Deaths

    A new report has found that the intelligence community regularly distorts their own findings to fit in the with policies of the administration in power – and they’re doing it for both Democrats and Republicans. Also, a popular heart pump used on cardiovascular patients has now been linked to dozens of deaths and possibly hundreds […]

    The post Cheney’s Legacy Lives On Within Intel Agencies & Popular Heart Pump Linked To Multiple Deaths appeared first on The Ring of Fire Network.

    This post was originally published on The Ring of Fire.

  • Israel kills 274 plus Palestinians to rescue 4 captives – US allegedly involved in operation

    SPECIAL REPORT: By Yumna Patel

    At least 274 Palestinians were killed and more than 698 others were wounded on Saturday in the central Gaza Strip, in what Israel is celebrating as a “heroic” military operation to rescue four Israeli captives that were being held in Gaza.

    Palestinian media reported intense bombardment in the early afternoon local time in various areas in the Nuseirat and Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

    Video footage from the main market in the Nuseirat refugee camp showed crowds of Palestinian civilians fleeing under the sound of heavy artillery fire.


    Translation: A horrific scene shows the first moments of the [Israeli] occupation committing the Nuseirat massacre in the middle of the Gaza Strip.

    Al Jazeera reporter Anas al-Sharif reported that Israeli forces “infiltrated” the Nuseirat refugee camp in trucks disguised as humanitarian aid trucks.

    The Gaza government media office said in a statement that Israeli forces launched an “unprecedented brutal attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp” directly targeting civilians, and that ambulances and civil defence crews were unable to reach the area and evacuate the wounded due to the intensity of the bombing.

    The media office added that according to its count, at least 210 Palestinians were killed and an estimated 400 others were wounded during the Israeli operation.

    Video footage published on social media showed dozens of bodies of men, women and children lying in the streets in the Nuseirat area, as well as bloodied and injured civilians being rushed to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah.

    ‘Complete bloodbath’
    Al Jazeera quoted Dr Tanya Haj-Hassan with Doctors Without Borders as saying the emergency department at Al-Aqsa Hospital “is a complete bloodbath . . . It looks like a slaughterhouse”.

    “The images and videos that I’ve received show patients lying everywhere in pools of blood . . .  their limbs have been blown off,” she told Al Jazeera, adding “that is what a massacre looks like.”

    As the death toll from the central Gaza Strip continued to rise, Israeli reports emerged that four Israeli captives were rescued in the operation and transferred back to Israel.

    The four captives were identified as Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40. They were all reportedly taken on October 7 from the Nova Music festival in southern Israel close to the Gaza border.

    According to Israeli media, the four captives were found in good health, and were transferred to a hospital in Israel where they were reunited with their families. One member of the Israeli special forces was killed during the attack.

    The Israeli newspaper Haaretz cited Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari as saying the captives were “rescued under fire, and that during the operation the IDF [Israeli Defence Force] attacked from the air, sea, and land in the Nuseirat and Deir al-Balah areas in the center of the Gaza Strip.”

    Haaretz added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant approved the operation on Thursday evening. Netanyahu hailed the operation as “successful,” while Gallant reportedly described it as “one of the most heroic operations he had seen in all his years in the defence establishment”, according to Israeli media.

    Families praised military
    The families of Israeli captives held a press conference on Saturday afternoon in reaction to the news. Relatives of the four captives rescued on Saturday praised both the Israeli military and the government.

    Some relatives of the remaining captives still being held in Gaza demanded an end to the war and a prisoner exchange in order to secure the release of those still being held in Gaza.

    On Saturday evening local time, spokesman for the Qassam Brigades Abu Obeida said “the first to be harmed by [the Israeli army] are its prisoners”, saying that while some of the captives were freed in the operation, a number of other Israeli captives were reportedly killed.

    The Israeli government and military have not commented on the reports that Israeli captives were killed in the operation.

    It is reported that there are 120 captives still held in the Gaza Strip, including 43 who have been killed since October, many reportedly by Israel’s own forces.

    On its official Telegram channel, Hamas said the release of the four captives “will not change the Israeli army’s strategic failure in the Gaza Strip” and that “the resistance is still holding a larger number of captives and can increase it.”

    Reports of US involvement in Nuseirat massacre
    As news flooded on the scale of the massacre in central Gaza, and of celebrations in Israel at the release of the four captives, reports emerged of alleged US involvement in the operation.

    Axios, citing a US administration official, reported that “the US hostage cell in Israel supported the effort to rescue the four hostages.”

    Of the operation, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said: “The United States is supporting all efforts to secure the release of hostages still held by Hamas, including American citizens. This includes through ongoing negotiations or other means.”

    Some reports claimed that American forces were involved in the operation on the ground, and that the humanitarian aid trucks that were reportedly used to disguise the entry of special forces into Nuseirat departed from the US built humanitarian pier off the Gaza coast.

    Mondoweiss has not been able to independently verify some of these reports.

    Videos circulating on social media showed the helicopters that were used in the operation to evacuate the Israeli captives taking off from the vicinity of the US pier that was built off the coast of Gaza in order to deliver “much-needed humanitarian aid” to Gaza.

    The US$230 million pier, which was completed last month, has drawn significant criticism from rights groups and activists who say the pier is an ineffective way to deliver aid.

    Intense criticism
    Reported US involvement in the attacks on central Gaza on Saturday, and the alleged use of the pier in the operation, has sparked intense criticism and outrage online.

    In response to the reports, Hamas said it proves “once more” that Washington is “complicit and completely involved in the war crimes being perpetrated” in Gaza.

    US President Joe Biden has not commented on US involvement in the operation, but in response said: “We won’t stop working until all the hostages come home and a ceasefire is reached. It is essential that it happens.”

    Reported by the Mondoweiss Palestine Bureau. Republished under Creative Commons.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Macron’s ‘dialogue mission’ takes a break from unrest-ridden New Caledonia

    By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk

    A “dialogue mission” set up by French President Emmanuel Macron when he visited New Caledonia last month has reportedly left the French Pacific territory.

    The “mediation and work” mission consists of three high-level public servants — Eric Thiers, Frédéric Potier and Rémi Bastille — who have all been previously working on New Caledonian affairs.

    Local media reported the trio had left New Caledonia mid-week to “report to Paris” on the progress of their mission. They said they were planning to return to New Caledonia shortly.

    During the first two weeks of their stay, they are reported to have held meetings behind closed doors with about 100 political, economic and civil society leaders.

    The pause in their work is believed to be in accordance with an announcement from pro-independence umbrella group FLNKS (Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front), which consists of several pro-independence parties, that it would hold its national Congress next Saturday.

    The main item on the group’s agenda would be to announce a common stance on New Caledonia’s grave civil unrest, which started on May 13 in protest against a scheduled amendment to the French Constitution.

    Eight people have died in the unrest, including two French police officers.

    The amendment aims at “unfreezing” New Caledonia’s electoral roll for local elections to allow any citizen having resided there for at least 10 years to cast their vote at provincial and Congress (Parliament) elections.

    This was perceived by the pro-independence movement as likely to dilute indigenous votes and therefore weaken their political representation.

    A state of emergency was lifted in the territory in late May but a security force of more than 3000 could remain until after the Paris Olympics.

    Union Calédonienne refuses to meet dialogue mission
    In the face of an ever-widening rift within the FLNKS, one of its main components, the Union Calédonienne (UC), issued a release last Wednesday, saying it “did not wish to meet the dialogue mission . . .  under the current circumstances”.

    It said talks with the French dialogue mission may take place, but only after the FLNKS held its Congress and only if the final endorsement process for the constitutional amendment was dropped.

    “Such an announcement, in our view, would be the only trigger that would allow to sustainably appease New Caledonia’s situation,” the group said.

    The UC also called for the “unification” of the pro-independence movement.

    FLNKS, in a more moderate stance, earlier sent a letter to the three French dialogue mission members saying that Macron should “clarify” his stance on the proposed constitutional amendment.

    He earlier said it could be submitted to the French people by way of a referendum, which caused an uproar in New Caledonia.

    Macron later said he was “only mentioning the options available under the French Constitution” and it was “merely a a reading of the law, not an intention”.

    The FLNKS said Macron’s intentions were not clear enough and his statements were no guarantee that the reform would be dropped.

    That confusion “prevents our militants being receptive to the appeal for calm and appeasement”, the group said.

    Moderate Calédonie Ensemble leader Philippe Gomès has also called for an end to the legislative process in order for law and order to be restored.

    The unrest had left the economy in “tatters”, he told local media.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Kanaky New Caledonia unrest: ‘Nobody talks about what’s happening here anymore’

    By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist

    People in Kanaky New Caledonia are disappointed that the riots last month are now being overshadowed by the Parliament elections and the Olympic Games.

    New Caledonia High Commissioner Louis Le Franc said the European elections tomorrow will take place, despite some local municipalities indicating that they are experiencing difficulties.

    He said additional security will be deployed for the elections, public broadcaster La Première TV reported.

    Local journalist Coralie Cochin said French media had stopped reporting on the territory.

    “They used to do it maybe three weeks ago, but now [people in New Caledonia] feel abandoned because nobody talks about what is happening here anymore,” Cochin said.

    She said it was because of the upcoming EU elections and Paris Olympics, but also because “the French government tried to overshadow the subject”.

    “They really want to show a very positive image of [Emmanuel Macron’s] action in New Caledonia.”

    People feeling angry, discouraged
    Cochin said people were feeling angry, discouraged and tired from the riots that broke out on May 13.

    “They told us that they feel abandoned by the French government, okay Paris sent a lot of policemen on the ground, but those policemen didn’t manage to restore security outside after almost four weeks of riots.”

    Cochin said from her count almost 10 houses were burned but more were damaged, while authorities did not have a figure.

    She said the people who had homes destroyed or damaged moved in with friends and family.

    They are blaming both the government and rioters for what happened, Cochin said.

    “Some of them told me they were really disappointed by the authorities because they are supposed to help and make people feel secure but instead of that they had to flee their home and were not helped to find a new home.”

    Cochin said people were concerned of losing their homes going forward but were most concerned of losing their job.

    “I would say more than 6000 people lost their job already,” she said.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    Ni-Vanuatu protesters marching on the French Embassy in the Vanuatu capital of Port Vila
    Ni-Vanuatu protesters marching on the French Embassy in the Vanuatu capital of Port Vila yesterday. Image: VBTC News screenshot APR

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Nigeria: Girl Survivors of Boko Haram and Military Abuses Speak Out


    This content originally appeared on Amnesty International and was authored by Amnesty International.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • NZ to make UNRWA payment after Gaza controversy, says Peters

    RNZ News

    New Zealand will make its annual payment of $1 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) as scheduled.

    Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has confirmed the news in a tweet.

    “This follows careful consideration of the UN’s response — including through external and internal investigations — to serious allegations against certain UNRWA staff being involved in the 7 October terrorist attacks on Israel,” he said.

    “It also reflects assurances received from the UN Secretary-General about remedial work underway to enhance UNRWA’s neutrality.”

    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in January confirmed New Zealand would hold off on making the usual June payment until Peters was satisfied over accusations against the agency’s staff.

    UNRWA is the UN’s largest aid agency operating in Gaza, but in January Israel levelled allegations that a dozen of UNRWA’s staff had been involved in the October 7 attack by Hamas fighters into southern Israel.

    The attack left about 1139 people dead and about 250 Israeli soldiers and civilians were reported to have been taken hostage.

    Never suspended
    Speaking from Fiji on the final day of his trip to the Pacific, Luxon said New Zealand had never suspended its payments as other countries had.

    “Our funding is made once a year. It was due by the end of June. As I said at the time, they were serious allegations. The UN investigated then, the deputy prime minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters also got assurances from the UN Secretary-General.

    “We’re reassured that it’s a good investment and it’s entirely appropriate that we now make that payment.”

    Winston Peters
    NZ Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters . . . “This follows careful consideration of the UN’s response.” Image: RNZ/Samuel Rillstone

    The independent report commissioned by the UN into the agency concluded it needed to improve its neutrality, vetting and transparency, but Israel had failed to back up the claims which led many countries to halt their funding.

    UNRWA fired the 10 employees accused by Israel who were still alive. The agency is one of the largest UN operations and employs about 30,000 people.

    Secretary-General António Guterres said any UN employee found to have been involved in acts of terror would be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution.

    Luxon said he was “absolutely” satisfied due diligence had been done on the matter, and New Zealand was “very comfortable” making the payments.

    $17m in other aid
    “Remember also that we’ve made $17 million worth of additional investments in aid to organisations like the World Food Programme, International Red Cross and others.

    “This is just part of our humanitarian assistance package, we’ve woken up this morning to more images of catastrophic impact of civilians in Gaza, why we’ve been calling consistently for some time a cessation of hostilities there.”

    Gaza’s Health Ministry estimates at least 36,580 people have been killed in Gaza since the attack in October.

    Most recently an Israeli air strike on a UN school in central Gaza, which was packed with hundreds of displaced people, killed more than 40 people.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Force not the answer in Kanaky New Caledonia, says PANG

    By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist

    A Pacific regional network has deplored what they call increasing brutality on Kanak youth in Kanaky New Caledonia and the deployment of thousands of troops.

    New Caledonia has experienced a wave of violence with Nouméa the scene of riots, blockades, looting and deadly clashes since mid-May.

    France has sent armoured vehicles with machine gun capability to New Caledonia to quell violence.

    In a joint statement, endorsed by more than a dozen groups, including Pacific Elders’ Voice and Pacific Youth Council, the Pacific Network on Globalisation said “liberation” was the answer — not repression.

    “The people of Kanaky New Caledonia have spoken, saying yet again, any and all attempts to determine the future relationship between France and the territory, by force, and without its people, will never be accepted,” the PANG statement said.

    The group wants Paris to implement an impartial Eminent Persons Group (EPG) to resolve the crisis peacefully.

    They also want Paris to withdraw the controversial electoral bill that prompted the violent turn of events in the territory.

    “The Pacific groups, and solidarity partners therefore strongly support the affirmation of the FLNKS and other pro-independence groups — that responding to the current crisis in a political and non-repressive, non-violent manner is the only pathway towards a viable solution,” PANG said in a statement.

    A week after violence broke out in Kanaky New Caledonia on May 13, President Emmanuel Macron flew to the territory for a day to diffuse tensions.

    He promised dialogue would continue, “in view of the current context, we give ourselves a few weeks so as to allow peace to return, dialogue to resume, in view of a comprehensive agreement”.

    Following his departure, FLNKS representatives and other pro-independence voices were neither convinced of the effectiveness of his visit nor of the genuineness of his intentions, the PANG statement went on to say.

    RNZ Pacific has contacted the French Ambassador for the Pacific, Véronique Roger-Lacan, for comment.

    The news service has yet to receive a response.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Why Are US Military Bases so Dangerous?


    This content originally appeared on VICE News and was authored by VICE News.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Columbia Law Review website shut down over ‘censored’ article critical of Israel

    Pacific Media Watch

    The editorial board of the Columbia Law Review journal — made up of faculty and alumni from the university’s law school — shut down the review’s website on Monday after editors refused to halt publication of an academic article by a Palestinian human rights lawyer that was critical of Israel.

    Al Jazeera reports that the student editors of the journal said they were pressured by the board to not publish the article which accused Israel of carrying out genocide in Gaza and implementing an apartheid regime against Palestinians.

    The review’s website was taken down after the article was published on Monday morning and remained offline last night, reports AP news agency.

    Columbia Law Review
    Columbia Law Review . . . “under maintenance”. Image: APR screenshot

    A static homepage informed visitors the domain was “under maintenance”.

    Several editors at the Columbia Law Review described the board’s intervention as an unprecedented breach of editorial independence at the periodical.

    In a letter sent to student editors yesterday, the board of directors said it was concerned that the article, titled “Nakba as a Legal Concept,” had not gone through the “usual processes of review or selection for articles”.

    However, the editor involved in soliciting and editing the aricle said they had followed a “rigorous review process”.

    ‘A microcosm of repression’
    The author of the article, human rights lawyer Rabea Eghbariah, a Harvard doctoral candidate, said the suspension of the journal’s website should be seen as “a microcosm of a broader authoritarian repression taking place across US campuses”.

    The Intercept reports that this was the second time in barely eight months that Eghbariah had been censored by US academic publications.

    Columbia Law Review
    Columbia Law Review . . . second journal to censor Palestinian law scholar over Nakba truth. Image: APR screenshot

    Last November, the Harvard Law Review made the unprecedented decision to “kill” (not publish) the author’s edited essay prior to publication. The author was due to be the first Palestinian legal scholar published in the quality journal.

    As The Intercept reported at the time, “Eghbariah’s essay — an argument for establishing ‘Nakba’, the expulsion, dispossession, and oppression of Palestinians, as a formal legal concept that widens its scope — faced extraordinary editorial scrutiny and eventual censorship.”

    “When the Harvard publication spiked his article, editors from another Ivy League law school reached out to Eghbariah.

    “Students from the Columbia Law Review solicited a new article from the scholar and, upon receiving it, decided to edit it and prepare it for publication.

    “Now, eight months into Israel’s onslaught against Gaza, Eghbariah’s work has once again been stifled.”

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • South Korea to resume border military activity after suspending inter-Korean pact

    South Korea will restore all border military activities for the first time in more than five years, after it suspended a 2018 inter-Korean military pact, the defense ministry said Tuesday.

    Seoul suspended the Comprehensive Military Agreement until mutual trust is restored in response to the North’s recent sending of trash-filled balloons to South Korea and its jamming of GPS signals.

    “This measure is restoring to normality all military activities by our military, which had been restricted by the 2018 pact,” Cho Chang-rae, deputy defense minister for policy, said in a press briefing.

    “All responsibility for causing this situation lies with the North Korean regime and if the North attempts to stage additional provocations, our military will sternly retaliate based on a firm South Korea-U.S. combined defense posture,” he added. 

    The agreement, signed on Sept. 19, 2018, was aimed at defusing tension and avoiding war. It was implemented after a meeting between South Korea’s then-president, Moon Jae-in, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

    The deal included setting up a land buffer zone, where artillery drills and regiment-level field maneuvers were suspended, and maritime buffer zones, where artillery firing and naval drills were banned.

    It also designated no-fly zones near the border to prevent accidental aircraft clashes.

    The suspension of the pact will allow South Korea to carry out drills to bolster front-line defenses and draw up training plans near land and island borders.

    South Korea will also be able to resume loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts into the North.

    “Fixed loudspeakers need to be connected to power and installing them could take hours to a few days. Mobile loudspeaker operations can be conducted right away,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung-jun told a regular briefing, without elaborating on when the broadcasts might resume.

    The loudspeakers are considered a key psychological warfare tool and involve blaring various messages over the border including criticism of the Kim Jong Un regime’s human rights record, news and K-pop songs, to the fury of North Korea.

    North Korea sent waves of trash-filled balloons into the South from Thursday to Sunday in what it said was a tit-for-tat campaign against South Korean activists who sent balloons carrying propaganda material denouncing the North’s regime.

    Separately, the North staged GPS jamming attacks in waters near South Korea’s northwestern border islands for the fifth straight day on Sunday.

    On Sunday, North Korea said it would temporarily suspend its cross-border balloon campaign, though it also threatened to resume it if anti-Pyongyang leaflets were sent from South Korea.

    The group Fighters for a Free North Korea, a Seoul-based organization that floated anti-Pyongyang balloons over the North last month, said on Monday that it would consider stopping its airborne leaflets only if the North apologized for sending its trash-bearing balloons to the South. 

    Edited by Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Taejun Kang for RFA.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Jimmy Naouna: Macron’s handling of Kanaky New Caledonia isn’t working – we need a new way

    COMMENTARY: By Jimmy Naouna in Nouméa

    The unrest that has gripped Kanaky New Caledonia is the direct result of French President Emmanuel Macron’s partisan and stubborn political manoeuvring to derail the process towards self-determination in my homeland.

    The deadly riots that erupted two weeks ago in the capital, Nouméa, were sparked by an electoral reform bill voted through in the French National Assembly, in Paris.

    Almost 40 years ago, Kanaky New Caledonia made international headlines for similar reasons. The pro-independence and Kanak people have long been calling to settle the colonial situation in Kanaky New Caledonia, once and for all.

    FLNKS Political Bureau member Jimmy Naouna . . . The pro-independence groups and the Kanak people called for the third independence referendum to be deferred due to the covid pandemic and its high death toll. Image: @JNaouna

    Kanak people make up about 40 percent of the population in New Caledonia, which remains a French territory in the Pacific.

    The Kanak independence movement, the Kanak National and Socialist Liberation Front (FLNKS), and its allies have been contesting the controversial electoral bill since it was introduced in the French Senate by the Macron government in April.

    Relations between the French government and the FLNKS have been tense since Macron decided to push ahead with the third independence referendum in 2021. Despite the call by pro-independence groups and the Kanak people for it to be deferred due to the covid pandemic and its high death toll.

    Ever since, the FLNKS and supporters have contested the political legitimacy of that referendum because the majority of the indigenous and colonised people of Kanaky New Caledonia did not take part in the vote.

    Peaceful rallies
    Since the electoral reform bill was introduced in the French Senate in April this year, peaceful rallies, demonstrations, marches and sit-ins gathering more than 10,000 people have been held in the city centre of Nouméa and around Kanaky New Caledonia.

    But that did not stop the French government pushing ahead with the bill — despite clear signs that it would trigger unrest and violent reactions on the ground.

    The tensions and loss of trust in the Macron government by pro-independence groups became more evident when Sonia Backés, an anti-independence leader and president of the Southern province, was appointed as State Secretary in charge of Citizenship in July 2022 and then Nicolas Metzdorf, another anti-independence representative as rapporteur on the proposed electoral reform bill.

    This clearly showed the French government was supporting loyalist parties in Kanaky New Caledonia — and that the French State had stepped out of its neutral position as a partner to the Nouméa Accord, and a party to negotiate toward a new political agreement.

    Then last late last month, President Macron made the out-of-the blue decision to pay an 18 hour visit to Kanaky New Caledonia, to ease tensions and resume talks with local parties to build a new political agreement.

    It was no more than a public relations exercise for his own political gain. Even within his own party, Macron has lost support to take the electoral reform bill through the Congrès de Versailles (a joint session of Parliament) and his handling of the situation in Kanaky New Caledonia is being contested at a national level by political groups, especially as campaigning for the upcoming European elections gathers pace.

    Once back in Paris, Macron announced he may consider putting the electoral reform to a national referendum, as provided for under the French constitution; French citizens in France voted to endorse the Nouméa Accord in 1998.

    More pressure on talks
    For the FLNKS, this option will only put more pressure on the talks for a new political agreement.

    The average French citizen in Paris is not fully aware of the decolonisation process in Kanaky New Caledonia and why the electoral roll has been restricted to Kanaks and “citizens”, as per the Nouméa Accord. They may just vote “yes” on the basis of democratic principles: one man, one vote.

    Yet others may vote “no” as to sanction against Macron’s policies and his handling of Kanaky New Caledonia.

    Either way, the outcome of a national referendum on the proposed electoral reform bill — without a local consensus — would only trigger more protest and unrest in Kanaky New Caledonia.

    After Macron’s visit, the FLNKS issued a statement reaffirming its call for the electoral reform process to be suspended or withdrawn.

    It also called for a high-level independent mission to be sent into Kanaky New Caledonia to ease tensions and ensure a more conducive environment for talks to resume towards a new political agreement that sets a definite and clear pathway towards a new — and genuine — referendum on independence for Kanaky New Caledonia.

    A peaceful future for all that hopefully will not fall on deaf ears again.

    Jimmy Naouna is a member of Kanaky New Caledonia’s pro-independence FLNKS Political Bureau. This article was first published by The Guardian and is republished here with the permission of the author.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.