Madang’s tough stand
p. 47 · Read in the full issue
PAPUA New Guinea’s northern coastal town of Madang has become the first provincial capital in Forum Islands countries to host a meeting of the South Pacific Forum. In doing so, the townsfolk and the Government of PNG spared no effort to ensure the leaders and officials felt at home during their short stay.
Except for Solomon Islands and Western Samoa, leaders of all member countries attended the three-day summit held at the Madang Resort from September 13. Solomon Islands was represented by its Deputy Prime Minister while Western Samoa’s Education Minister stood in for the PM.
It was at Madang, too, that the newest member, the Republic of Palau, was for mally admitted as the 16th member of the South Pacific Forum. But Madang is like ly to be remembered, too, in another con text. It was there that the South Pacific Forum leaders took some decisive steps to deal with French nuclear testing in the Pacific and nuclear testing in general.
They have placed France on notice that if it did not desist from its nuclear testing programme in the South Pacific, its Post- Forum Dialogue partner status would be reviewed. It would be a sad day indeed if the South Pacific Forum were to be forced to take such an action, given that France had made positive contributions to the overall development in the region.
The argument by France that the anti nuclear campaign was orchestrated by cer tain members of the South Pacific Forum to get Paris out of the region has no foun dation. It is nothing more than an act of desperation to salvage lost prestige in the face of international condemnation and isolation. It is a price for ignoring world
opinion.
The argument is an insult on the intelli gence of the Pacific leaders and their peo ple. How does that argument sit with the results of public opinion polls in Paris which show voters opposed to the resump tion of nuclear testing at Mururoa and Fangataufa now account for 64 per cent and rising? Or the demonstrations which had been held and continue to be held in just about every metropolitan city in the world. Even most members of the European Union to which France belongs have stated in no uncertain terms that they are opposed to nuclear testing.
The fact that French President Jacques Chirac tried to sell the nuclear persuasion argument as an umbrella to its European
T H E F O R U M
allies is a telling blow which makes the “leave the Pacific now” argument almost obsolete.
By allowing the tests to proceed, Chirac has lost a golden opportu nity to get world opinion right behind him. The anti-nuclear
campaign is one orchestrated by the world opinion that there is no need to continue to develop such weapons. There’s enough of it in the world already to blow this planet away in a matter of seconds.
The fact is that since the Cold War era has ended, the world has finally realised that we all can live together without the threat, or even the perceived threat, of a nuclear attack hanging over our heads.
Developing nuclear technologies and test ing them is not going to help us all to for get what happened at Hiroshima and Nagasaki and those still suffering from the test fallouts, particularly in the region.
The world has seen suffering through illnesses, let alone those still suffering the effects of fallouts from past experiments.
The statement by the leaders in the South Pacific Forum on nuclear testing is pretty telling. It was directed at both France and China. It is also to thank the people of the region and around the world in their sup port in a united front against nuclear test ing. The statement was issued after the leaders of the 16-member South Pacific Forum met in an informal session, known as the Retreat, with the first four hours of the private discussions devoted to French nuclear testing in the Pacific and nuclear testing in general. Here are excerpts: “Leaders express their extremes out rage at the resumption of French nuclear testing the Pacific. Forum leaders again demand that France desist from any further tests in the region and call on other coun tries also to seek to persuade France to
cease testing.
“The Forum also note that the painful memories resulting from nuclear testing conducted in the region a half-century ago still haunt many people in the region.
Should France continue its testing in the Pacific, the Forum will review France’s status as a Post-Forum Dialogue partner.
“The decisions by the governments of
France and the People’s Republic of China to continue testing are completely contrary to the undertaking at the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review and extension conference on 11 May 1995 to exercise “utmost restraint” in nuclear test
ing pending the completion of negotiations
on a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) that would ban nuclear tests for all time.
“The conclusion of a CTBT is an objec tive of the highest importance for the inter national community. Leaders therefore welcome the recent announcements of the United States and France to support a truly comprehensive CTBT. They call on all members of the international community, and especially the nuclear weapon states, to spare no effort to ensure the conclusion of a CTBT no later than 1996.
“In the spirit of the renewed emphasis on global disarmament, leaders call on France to sign and ratify the protocols of the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone (SPNFZ) Treaty. They urge the United States and The United Kingdom to do like wise, noting that the People’s Republic of China and Russia have already signed the protocols. The decision of the Government of Vanuatu to sign the SPNFZ treaty at the Forum is warmly welcomed. The forum will continue to oppose nuclear testing at every opportunity including at the United Nations General Assembly.
“Leaders commend the efforts com menced by the Forum Delegation to Paris in June. They thank the Forum Regional Action Committee for its work in support ing the activities of Forum Governments and endorse the report of its activities pre sented to the Forum.
“Leaders welcome New Zealand’s action to resume its 1973 International Court of Justice case against French
nuclear testing.
“Leaders reiterate the call by the Melanesian Spearhead group leaders through the Lakatoro Declaration and by the South Pacific Environment Ministers’
Meeting in August 1995 for France to close its nuclear testing facilities in the Pacific, except as required for environ mental monitoring; to accept full and exclusive responsibility for any adverse impacts from French testing on the Pacific environment and people; and to provide access for the international community to all the scientific data it holds and to the testing sites themselves to enable an inde pendent and comprehensive assessment of the risks involved.” A