Geopolitics helps reignite New Caledonia’s anti-colonial unrest

THE RECENT sharpening of international rivalries has an impact all over the world—even in far-flung parts of the Pacific. It now seems to have encouraged outsiders to pick at old wounds in New Caledonia. As the French territory was swept by rioting this month, leaving six dead including two policemen, dozens of X and Facebook posts with the hashtag #EndFrenchColonialism alleged: “French police are murderers in New Caledonia”. When Gérald Darmanin, France’s interior minister, first denounced meddling by Azerbaijan, it appeared far-fetched. Then Viginum, an official body in Paris that monitors social-media disinformation, confirmed it had traced the posts to Azerbaijan, a regime close to Russia and angry at French support for neighbouring Armenia. The French pointed to interference not just from Baku but from Moscow and Beijing.