PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron is making a surprise trip to riot-hit New Caledonia, the French Pacific territory that has been gripped by days of deadly unrest and where indigenous people have long sought independence. “He will go there tonight,” government spokesperson Prisca Thevenot said after a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday where the president said he’d decided to make the more than 33,000-kilometer (20,000-mile) round trip himself to the archipelago east of Australia. Six people have been killed, including two gendarmes, and hundreds of others injured in New Caledonia amid armed clashes, looting and arson, raising new questions about Macron’s handling of France’s colonial legacy. There have been decades of tensions between indigenous Kanaks who seek independence for the archipelago of 270,000 people, and descendants of colonizers and colonists who want to remain part of France. |
More Chinese people hit road for Dragon Boat FestivalBeijing eyeing more foreign travelersBeijing eyeing more foreign travelersLiang seals narrow win as WTT Champions Incheon kick offChinese premier chairs State Council executive meetingChinese premier chairs State Council executive meetingOrganizers start ticket refund process for Messi's noChinese diplomat calls for enhancing ChinaUniversal Beijing Resort temporarily closes amid Beijing's increasing COVIDJiangsu edge Guangzhou to snap 17