PAPEETE (French Polynesia) • President Emmanuel Macron was greeted with garlands and Tahitian dancers on the tarmac as he touched down for his first official trip to French Polynesia.
While in the South Pacific territory, he plans to discuss its strategic role, the legacy of nuclear tests and the existential risk of rising seas posed by global warming.
Residents in the sprawling archipelago of more than 100 islands located midway between Mexico and Australia are hoping that Mr Macron confirms compensation for radiation victims following decades of nuclear testing as France pursued atomic weapons.
The tests remain a source of deep resentment, seen as evidence of racist colonial attitudes.
"During this visit, the President intends to establish a strong and transparent dialogue by encouraging several concrete steps, on the history with the opening of state archives as well as individual compensation," said a French official, who asked not to be named.
French officials denied any cover-up of radiation exposure at a meeting earlier this month with delegates from the semi-autonomous territory led by President Edouard Fritch.
The meeting came after the investigative website Disclose reported in March that the impact from the fallout was far more extensive than the authorities had acknowledged, citing declassified French military documents on the nearly 200 tests.
Only 63 Polynesian civilians have been compensated for radiation exposure since the tests ended in 1996, Disclose said.
Mr Macron, who arrived in the South Pacific last Saturday after a visit to the Olympic Games in Tokyo, will also lay out his vision for the strategically valuable territory, where China has made no secret of its push for military and commercial dominance.
The President "will present the Indo-Pacific strategy and the position France intends to maintain in this increasingly polarised zone", the Elysee official said.
Mr Macron also plans to address risks for the islands from rising sea levels and cyclones that scientists warn could become more dangerous owing to climate change.
But his first visit was with hospital workers racing to combat rising Covid-19 cases with vaccines. Many Polynesians remain wary of the jabs, with just 29 per cent of adults vaccinated, compared with almost 49 per cent across France nationwide.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
