Gallic pretensions to world power status ensure it retains three colonies - including New Caledonia and French Polynesia - but Britain's commitment has long since waned.
China is the new kid on the block.
But why the Chinese interest in a region regarded by most of the world as an obscure backwater?
Well, for a start, the Chinese are looking to satisfy their voracious appetite for natural resources.
Copper, zinc and nickel from Papua New Guinea, timber from the Solomon Islands, manganese and cobalt from the sea-bed are all vital to feed China's extraordinary pace of development.
New kid on the block
Beijing is boosting its political and economic influence in a region which was long dominated by European powers such as France and Britain.
Gallic pretensions to world power status ensure it retains three colonies - including New Caledonia and French Polynesia - but Britain's commitment has long since waned.
China is the new kid on the block.
But why the Chinese interest in a region regarded by most of the world as an obscure backwater?
Well, for a start, the Chinese are looking to satisfy their voracious appetite for natural resources.
Copper, zinc and nickel from Papua New Guinea, timber from the Solomon Islands, manganese and cobalt from the sea-bed are all vital to feed China's extraordinary pace of development.
Gallic pretensions to world power status ensure it retains three colonies - including New Caledonia and French Polynesia - but Britain's commitment has long since waned.
China is the new kid on the block.
But why the Chinese interest in a region regarded by most of the world as an obscure backwater?
Well, for a start, the Chinese are looking to satisfy their voracious appetite for natural resources.
Copper, zinc and nickel from Papua New Guinea, timber from the Solomon Islands, manganese and cobalt from the sea-bed are all vital to feed China's extraordinary pace of development.
