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Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. expressed sympathy for the people of New Caledonia and compared Palau’s colonial history to New Caledonia’s current struggle for self-determination. “We want to see them have peace and live in peace. We sympathize with the people of New Caledonia,” Whipps said, recalling how Spain, Germany, Japan and the United States controlled Palau before it finally gained independence.
Whipps stressed the importance of a peaceful solution and advocated for the right of New Caledonians to determine their own future. His comments came as the issue of New Caledonia’s decolonization took center stage at the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga this week.
Tensions escalated in May when deadly riots broke out in New Caledonia, a French territory in the South Pacific and a full member of the Pacific Islands Forum, over a bill proposed by France to change voting eligibility in the country. The riots highlighted serious tensions between the local population and the French government.
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