The South Pacific archipelago of New Caledonia have voted against independence from France on Sunday in a long-awaited referendum that capped a 30-year long decolonization process, a result welcomed by French President Emmanuel Macron.
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.
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.
