Island nation Vanuatu and France are locked in a diplomatic dispute over two remote islands in the South Pacific, with implications for sovereignty, maritime rights, and regional politics.
South of Vanuatu , in the deep ocean teeming with fish and birdlife, lie two contested islands being fought over by Vanuatu (population 350,000) and France , which has the largest Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the world, totalling 11 million square kilometres.
Little wonder Vanuatu is framing this as a David versus Goliath fight. Vanuatu calls these islands by their ancient kastom (culture) names: Umaenupne and Umaeneg. On most maps, however, they are called by what British sea captains named them: Matthew and Hunter islands. A diplomatic stoush between Vanuatu and France over two uninhabitable islands could have global implications.
France derives much prestige, wealth and a permanent UN Security Council seat thanks to its overseas territories and vast maritime domain, spread across multiple oceans. Now, some politicians and security analysts in France are worried that these two islands, taken from Vanuatu before its independence in 1980, could prompt a major symbolic turning point. French far-right politician Marie Le Pen tweeted in December last year: Let's be clear: national sovereignty is not negotiable and cannot be surrendered.
The French people do not expect Macron's government to carve up our overseas territories, which are real levers of power, influence and economic development, behind their backs, but to give itself the means to protect and defend them. Rising in parliament this week, Vanuatu's Prime Minister Jotham Napat issued a response of sorts. He thundered that France was dragging its feet on negotiations following two postponements and was withholding relevant historical documents relating to France's claim.
Macron agreed to formal negotiations to resolve the issue during his 2023 visit to Vanuatu, saying it could be resolved by Christmas. He renewed this commitment in a meeting with Napat in July 2025. Years later, there is still no resolution. Napat warned last month: We will not take a passive approach.
And we will not abandon our claim. We will defend our sovereignty with determination. We have carefully evaluated all of the legal options that are available to us. We are trying the diplomatic pathway, but we are also ready to change strategy as soon as is necessary.
The escalating rhetoric comes a week after diplomatic confrontations embroiling France, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. A trade delegation from New Caledonia arrived in Port Vila earlier this month to boost economic ties but was quickly overshadowed by a diplomatic spat when one of the delegation, the new president of New Caledonia's pro-independence FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front) movement, Christian Tein, met with Vanuatu's PM Napat.
Vanuatu has long supported independence for its indigenous Kanaky neighbours, and meetings between Vanuatu and the FLNKS are quite routine. But when Tein affirmed to a newspaper in a front-page splash that Matthew and Hunter islands belong to Vanuatu, then France's ambassador weighed in on social media, and the New Caledonia government suspended all trade ties with Vanuatu.
Again, this is nothing new indigenous Kanak chiefs have long recognised Vanuatu's claims to Matthew and Hunter islands, declaring they had no kastom links to them and France should not have included them as part of New Caledonia, which France did in 1965. In 2009, Vanuatu and Kanak chiefs signed the Keamu Accord, acknowledging that Matthew and Hunter belonged to Vanuatu. Christian Tein, the leader of the pro-independence movement in New Caledonia, supports Vanuatu's claim to Matthew and Hunter islands.
Independence movements in New Caledonia, Tahiti (French Polynesia) and now an increasingly heated dispute with Vanuatu over Matthew and Hunter islands. Vanuatu claims its southern islanders from Tanna, Aneityum and Futuna were regularly visiting these two disputed islands long before the first European got wet in the Pacific Ocean. These islands weren't of much interest to British and French ships navigating the seas of the 18th and 19th centuries due to their small size and remoteness.
Matthew (Umaenupne) was first named by British sea captain Thomas Gilbert in 1788, in tribute to the owner of his ship. Gilbert would later bequeath his name to the Gilbert and Ellice islands which today form the nation of Kiribati. Hunter (Umaeneg) island was named by British captain Thomas Fearn aboard his trading ship Hunter in 1798.
It's thought he also named it Hunter to honour Vice Admiral John Hunter, who was then the governor of NSW, the second after Arthur Phillip. Hunter Street in Sydney and the Hunter Valley are similarly named after him.
The dispute over the islands primarily has its origins in the actions of another Australian, Bob Paul, who was a planter and aviation pioneer living on Tanna Island in the 1950s and 1960s, back when Vanuatu was known as the condominium of the New Hebrides and jointly administered by Britain and France. This historical context adds layers to the current standoff, as both sides dig in their heels over sovereignty and national pride
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