PARIS • The South Pacific archipelago of New Caledonia voted against independence from France yesterday in a long-awaited referendum that capped a 30-year long decolonisation process.
A "yes" vote would have deprived Paris of a foothold in the Indo-Pacific region where China is expanding its presence, and dented the pride of a former colonial power whose reach once spanned the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa and the Pacific Ocean.
Based on provisional results and with a participation rate of nearly 80 per cent, the "no" vote stood at 56.9 per cent at around 1pm GMT, local TV station NC La 1ere reported on its website.
"The New Caledonians have chosen to remain French... It is a vote of confidence in the French republic, its future and its values," President Emmanuel Macron said in a speech on French television.
The referendum was the first auto-determination vote to be held in a French territory since Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa, voted for independence in 1977.
Voters in the largely self-governing territory had been asked the question: "Do you want New Caledonia to gain full sovereignty and become independent?"
Mr Macron said he understood the disappointment of those who wanted independence, but added that the French state would ensure liberty, equality and fraternity for everyone.
"The only loser is the temptation of contempt, division, violence and fear; the only winner is the process of peace and the spirit of dialogue," Mr Macron said.
Tensions have long run deep between the pro-independence indigenous Kanaks and the descendants of colonial settlers who remain loyal to Paris. This boiled over into deadly violence in the 1980s, giving rise to the 1998 Noumea Accord and yesterday's referendum. Under the terms of that deal, in the event of a no vote, two further referenda can be held before 2022.
Some 175,000 out of the 280,000 people living on the archipelago were eligible to vote. Posters calling for a "no" vote said that "France is the only chance" while proponents of independence urged voters to say "yes" to "a multicultural, in solidarity, peaceful nation".
New Caledonia's economy is underpinned by French annual subsidies of some €1.3 billion (S$2 billion), nickel deposits that are estimated to represent 25 per cent of the world's total, and tourism.
It enjoys a large degree of autonomy but depends heavily on France for matters such as defence and education.
The New Caledonia archipelago lies more than 16,700km from France. It became a French colony in 1853.
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
