The concept of the sub-region of Melanesia was named and defined by French colonists. The French explorers Jules-Sebastien-César and Dumont de Vere divided the South Pacific into three geographic-cultural spheres on the basis of anthropology and culture: Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia. Melanesia includes: Bismarck Islands, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Fiji Islands (Fiji is located at the intersection of the Melanesian and Polynesian cultural spheres).
Melanesia means "black island", that is, the people who live on the island have dark skin and curly hair similar to that of indigenous Africans. In terms of political system, unlike neighboring Polynesia, Melanesia is still in a decentralized tribal system, and no large-scale political entity has emerged. As a result, Western colonists generally believed that the Melanesians were backward and barbaric over the neighboring Polynesians. The regional division of the colonists did not translate into the internal identity of the islanders, and under colonial rule, it was impossible for the islands to form close interconnections and dependencies.
Looking at the entire South Pacific region, most of the islands are still under Western control, still vassals of the Western world, and cannot be regarded as independent regions. Thus, from the 18th century to the mid-to-late 20th century, Melanesia was a cultural and geographical concept rather than a subregion in the political sense.
After World War II, the order in the South Pacific was reshaped: Western powers recaptured the islands occupied by Japan, but they lacked sufficient projection capacity to manage the region, so Western powers began to work together to establish institutions to coordinate the management of the South Pacific, and South Pacific regionalism began to emerge.
However, because regional dominance during this period was in the hands of colonial powers, it was also called "exogenous coercion" regionalism.
Since the 50s and 60s of the 20th century, the wave of global decolonization has brought great changes to the South Pacific region, and a large number of island countries have begun to become independent. While the newly established island States are putting pressure on old regional institutions to reform, they are also seeking autonomous cooperation and the establishment of regionalism with independent decision-making power.
Marked by the South Pacific Forum in 1971 (renamed the Pacific Islands Forum in 2000), the South Pacific island nations began a period of "indigenous" regionalism.
In September 1970, Marat, Fiji's first prime minister, gave a speech at the United Nations venue in which he formally presented the Pacific Way to the international community for the first time. The "Pacific way" refers to the peaceful transition of national sovereignty and the stable and orderly independence of South Pacific countries. The early understanding of the "Pacific way" included elements of "peace" and "stability." The proposal of the "Pacific Way" politically meets the needs of unity in the South Pacific region, spiritually promotes the formation of regional identity, and becomes a unique way of interaction and decision-making in the South Pacific region.
After half a century of development, the South Pacific region has initially formed a regionalist framework, which has become an indispensable part of the Asia-Pacific region and laid the foundation for the formation of subregionalism. Melanesia's subregionalism can be divided into three stages: 1. Initial stage: 80s - mid-90s of the 20th century.
During this period, the Melanesian subregion was dominated by informal cooperation. Following the establishment of the MSG informal political bloc, in 1988, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu signed the Principles of Cooperation among Independent States of Melanesia, reaffirming Melanesian traditions and values. In 1993, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu signed the MSGTA (Melanesia Trade Agreement). The Melanesian subregion has officially become a political subregion within the South Pacific region.
Trough stage: late 90s of the 20th century - early 21st century. Although subregionalism has made progress in the economic sphere: in 2004 and 2005, the countries of the Melanesian subregion signed two Free Trade Agreements, respectively, expanding the types of duty-free commodities and the mechanism for free trade in goods in the subregion.
However, during this period, the countries of the Melanissi subregion basically faced a situation of political instability, coupled with sharp contradictions among the countries of the subregion, which led to the difficult development of subregionalism. 3. Revival stage: In 2007, MSG (hereinafter referred to as Pioneer Group) was institutionalized and became a formal organization, and a permanent secretary mechanism was established. The organization of the MSG has made it the main institutional vehicle for subregionalism. Since 2013, the types of free trade in the sub-region have been further expanded, and a free trade area has taken shape.
Under the framework of the Vanguard Group, sub-regional cooperation in the fields of culture, security, ecology and environment is also being carried out at the same time. Today, the Melanesian subregion is the only subregional group within the South Pacific region with a formal secretariat and headquarters. Melanesia's subregionalism is a process in which the countries of the subregion, under the framework of the vanguard group, continue to deepen cooperation in the political, economic and cultural fields under the framework of the vanguard group to strive for and safeguard the interests of the countries of the subregion at the regional and international levels, and finally achieve in-depth cooperation in the subregion.
Question of New Caledonia
After World War II, as the South Pacific island nations gradually became independent, the West gradually withdrew from the region: the Netherlands left the island of Guinea in the 50s of the 20th century, the British Gilbert and Ellis Islands were divided into two independent states (Tuvalu and the Republic of Kiribati) in 1979, and the island states controlled by Australia and New Zealand gradually became independent. However, the French government's colonial rule in the South Pacific has not weakened, but has been further strengthened. In 1980, after a great reluctance to grant Vanuatu independence, the French government began to vigorously maintain its rule in New Caledonia and French Polynesia, causing a series of political upheavals, the most serious of which was the question of New Caledonia.
The incident originated from land issues. New Caledonia was discovered and named by the British explorer James Cook in 1774, and the island is predominantly inhabited by Melanesians. On September 24, 1853, French Admiral Febvrier Despointes annexed New Caledonia on behalf of France, after which New Caledonia became a French colony. From 1864 onwards, thousands of criminals were transported to the colonies every year from mainland France. Napoleon III made New Caledonia a penal colony, and about 5,000 exiles were sent there.
In order to develop the colonial economy and expand the colonial population, France mined minerals and carried out large-scale enclosures in New Caledonia, gradually encroaching on and encroaching on the territory of the Canaks in Melanesia.
By the 70s of the 20th century, fewer than 1,000 European settlers owned 370,000 hectares, half of which belonged to families of fewer than 40 people. By comparison, 60,000 Kanaks live on 165,000 hectares of reservation and 10,000 hectares of private property.
Between 1945 and 1976, land tenure by European settlers increased by 100,000 hectares, while the Kanak Reserve increased by only 36,000 hectares, and the Kanaks were excluded from a rapidly developing agricultural economy, reduced to smallholder producers and reserves of cheap labor. In 1975-1976, due to the economic crisis caused by the fall in nickel prices and the economic crisis caused by the economic recession, the land conflict in the reserve became acute. The urban unemployed Kanaks returned to the reserve, but the reserve no longer had enough land to accommodate the rapid influx of labour.
In 1976, the Kanaks demanded that the French government recognize their land rights. In response, the government undertook a land reform project to "balance the imbalance between Kanaks and European land ownership" – by buying land from the latter and distributing it to the former. Although welcomed by the Kanak political organization, the Front for Independence, the Kanaks have long since rejected the issue of land reform and preferred an independent timetable.
Encouraged by Vanuatu's successful independence in 1980, the Melanesian nationalists of New Caledonia, encouraged by Vanuatu's successful independence, and the long-standing land issue led the Kanak confrontation with France to shift from nonviolent demonstrations to violent rebellion. In 1983, when the Kanak military began to rise, the leader Jean-Marie Tjibaou declared: "The Kanak people can only decolonize on their own." ”
In September 1984, four of the five parties of the former FRI formed the Front for the Liberation of Freedom (FLNKS), an independent alliance, a land rights committee and a women's group. The FRL formed an interim Government and mobilized to boycott and disrupt the territorial elections in November. Afterward, the death of a young European settler led to a right-wing riot, French police killed independence leader Eloi Machero, and the government declared a state of emergency. The question of New Caledonia began to become the most serious regional security problem in the South Pacific in the eighties of the twentieth century.
In order to reduce pressure here, France has launched diplomatic activities with key national and regional institutions in the South Pacific. In response, the Mitterrand government established a consultative committee, composed of its High Commissioner and Ambassador for the South Pacific, to conduct research on Oceania. Chirac created the post of Secretary of State for the South Pacific, which was held by Garton Floss, President of the French Polynesian Government.
As ambassador for the South Pacific, Flos adopted a "carrot" foreign policy, providing economic and technical assistance to countries in the South Pacific, including grants to Solomon Islands, Cook Islands and Tonga, as well as Vanuatu. However, France's diplomatic activities in the Melanesian countries, which remained committed to solidarity with the Kanaks in New Caledonia, had not borne fruit.
In March 1981, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Peter Kenilorea criticized the position taken by France in the aid negotiations with Vanuatu. Kenilorea also reaffirmed Solomon Islands' strong commitment to supporting decolonization in the Pacific and expressed support for United Nations involvement in New Caledonia.
In 1986, Papua New Guinea decided to boycott the South Pacific Commission for two years, arguing that it was only a forum to represent French interests. Vanuatu Prime Minister Lini supported Kanak's independence movement at the United Nations, and the Ambassador of Vanuatu co-chaired FLNKS at the United Nations General Assembly with the Committee of 24 to investigate decolonization issues.
Bibliography:
[1] Chen Xiaochen, "South Pacific Regionalism: The Logic of Historical Change", Beijing Social Sciences Academic Press, 2020.
[2] Han Yuping, ed., Annals of Nations: Vanuatu, Beijing Social Sciences Academic Press, 2016.
[3] Han Feng, Zhao Jianglin, Annals of Nations: Papua New Guinea, Beijing Social Sciences Academic Press, 2018.