French Politician Proposes Tahiti Adopt Euro

Benoît Simian, a delegate of the National Assembly, proposed the adoption of the Euro. (Wikimedia Commons)

A French politician has proposed that the overseas territory of French Polynesia adopt the euro to counter the growing influence of China in the region and assert European control, reports Tahiti Infos.

The proposal came from Benoît Simian, a member of the French National Assembly who represents Gironde, a department in southwest France. He put forth the idea to the Bank of France during a meeting between the bank’s representatives and the Assembly, according to Tahiti Infos.

“The Polynesians are European citizens, but they are not switching to the euro while this region is currently under growing Chinese influence,” Simian said. “I know that the Polynesians are very attached to [France] and this would legitimize their European citizenship just a little bit more.”

Quoting former French President Jacques Chirac, Simian said that French Polynesia and the fellow French territory of New Caledonia should receive the euro at the same time in order to “reinforce European influence” in the region.

French Polynesia, along with New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna, all use the French Pacific franc, which is issued by a Paris-based institute and whose value is directly tied to the euro.

As overseas territories, these islands are not officially at the same level as the mainland departments of France, though residents are able to vote in French presidential elections, Radio New Zealand reports.

Due to their location in the Pacific, the islands have found themselves under increasing influence from China, which is seeking to expand its domination over the region. French Polynesia has gained greater autonomy in international affairs since 2004 due to a change in French law, leading to such deals as the construction of a fish farm by Chinese corporation Tianrui in 2017.

The project is scheduled for completion in 2020 and intended to produce more than 50,000 tons of fish annually, according to the Diplomat.

The €1 billion ($1.084 billion) investment was an economic boon to French Polynesia, which suffers from high unemployment and a large trade deficit, with its exports covering only around six percent of its imports. The increase in Chinese investments has also led to greater diversification of the territory’s economy, which pearl culturing and tourism have previously dominated.

The relationship has not always been purely beneficial, however. According to the Diplomat, in 2018, a major diplomatic scandal erupted when the Chinese consulate was found to be illegally occupying a house for office space in Tahiti; the consulate was given six months to vacate the property, but the consul, Shen Zhiliang, refused to leave.

It was amid this rising tension that Simian proposed his plan to stop “growing Chinese influence” by bringing French Polynesia into the Eurozone.

Simian, however, received no response from the bank’s representatives about his proposal. With China increasingly investing in the Pacific islands as well as an upcoming independence referendum in New Caledonia this September, France’s status as a “Pacific nation,” as President Emmanuel Macron has tweeted, could soon be called into question.