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In short:
Pacific Leaders are calling for France to allow a delegation to visit New Caledonia, where violent unrest has left 10 dead.
Regional countries have concerns about the most recent independence referendum in the French territory.
The PALM meeting between Pacific nations and Japan has wrapped up with a joint statement opposing "any way of aggression" or "unilateral attempts to change the status quo" by threat or use of force.
Pacific leaders are ramping up pressure on France over tensions in New Caledonia, pressing Paris to allow a "high-level" Pacific delegation to visit the troubled territory before a critical regional meeting next month.
Both pro-independence politicians from New Caledonia and French diplomats have been meeting with Pacific leaders to press their case on the margins of the Pacific Alliance Leaders Meeting (PALM) with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo.
During the past two months, New Caledonia has been rocked by violent riots and widespread unrest that has left 10 people dead.
The situation has gradually calmed in recent weeks, but some Pacific leaders hold France responsible for the chaos, accusing it of backtracking on decolonisation commitments in New Caledonia — accusations Paris forcefully denies.
The Pacific Islands Forum's (PIF) current chair, Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown, told reporters that PIF had requested France let in a "high-level" delegation in "a matter of weeks".
"There has been a request from the government of New Caledonia for a high-level Pacific delegation. We'll now go through the process of how we'll put that into practice," he said.
"But of course, it will require the support of France, for the admission of a high-level delegation of leaders from the Pacific to take place.
"So that's a work in progress."
Several Pacific countries want the delegation visit before the PIF Leaders Meeting, which is due to be held in Tonga's capital, Nuku'alofa, at the end of August.
One Pacific government source told the ABC that France seemed open to the delegation visiting, but was pushing for it to come later this year, after the PIF leaders meeting — possibly in September or October.
The French Embassy in Canberra was contacted on Thursday evening but has not yet responded to requests for comment.
New Caledonia has been roiled by unrest since May, when rioting, looting and arson broke out.
The chaos was initially triggered by outrage at a French government move to expand eligibility for local government elections, which pro-independence forces said was an attempt to dilute their political power.
Hundreds of businesses and homes have been damaged or destroyed, with French authorities deploying armoured vehicles and almost 3,000 additional police to restore order.
Some of the chaos has been fuelled by anger among Indigenous Kanaks, who believe France has deliberately stymied their push for complete autonomy, rather than acting as a neutral arbiter between French loyalists and independence parties.
France has held three referendums on New Caledonia's political future, and the first two votes were uncontroversial and universally seen to be both free and fair. In both, voters narrowly decided to stay part of France rather than making a full break for independence.
Pacific shares pro-independence concerns over final referendum
But Pacific leaders and pro-independence leaders hotly dispute the legitimacy of the third and final referendum in 2021.
The referendum was held in the wake of a major COVID-19 outbreak that took a heavy toll on the Kanak community, and many Kanak voters and pro-independence parties boycotted the vote, saying they could not interrupt customary mourning to campaign.
Earlier this week, Pacific leaders from the Melanesian Spearhead Group sharply criticised the third referendum and called for a "new and fair self-determination referendum to be conducted with technical preparatory supervision by UN experts and observation missions".
PIF Forum Chair Mark Brown backed those criticisms on Thursday, saying the organisations had "similar concerns" to the MSG.
"The fact the third referendum was boycotted by the Kanak population because of the impacts of COVID and the respect for the mourning period people had … it made the outcomes of that particular referendum, I guess, not really valid," he said.
French authorities have rejected those criticisms in the past, saying all three votes remained open to all New Caledonians, and that it has an obligation to respect the wishes of all people in the territory — not just those who are ardent supporters of full independence.
It has also accused criminal elements and political extremists in New Caledonia of opportunistically and deliberately stoking the violence and unrest.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong did not wade into the controversy, including questions on whether she would seek to join the delegation, telling reporters in Tokyo that Pacific nations would continue to "discuss" the issue.
"I think there is a shared view around Pacific island nations about the importance of peace and stability [in New Caledonia]. Obviously, we have all been concerned about the conflict and violence we have seen," she said.
"We're pleased things are more stable now. I would anticipate the PIF will make a decision about what its engagement will be with New Caledonia and the French state."
Meeting concludes with eye on China's threat to Taiwan
The PALM meeting wrapped up late on Thursday, with leaders discussing a host of issues including climate change, trade, disaster responses and cybercrime.
Japan has been keen to beef up its presence in the Pacific, despite already being the region's second-largest aid donor and having the second-largest diplomatic presence.
It has steadily ramped up its investments in Pacific infrastructure and development assistance, as well as stepping up security assistance through the Japanese Self Defence Forces and coastguard.
In opening remarks, Japan's prime minister said that he wanted to "walk together towards the future" with the Pacific, while stressing the urgent need to tackle regional and global crises such as climate change.
Japan relies heavily on the region for food, with 40 per cent of domestically consumed tuna coming from the exclusive economic zones of Pacific nations.
But it is also wary of China's growing influence in the region, particularly since Solomon Islands signed a contentious security deal with Beijing in 2022.
In a final joint statement, Pacific leaders and Mr Kishida did not directly mention Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but said they "opposed any war of aggression and committed to seeking permanent and sustainable peace consistent with international law including the UN Charter".
They also "expressed strong opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by the threat or use of force or coercion anywhere in the world" — a line diplomats said was a clear reference to China's threat to invade Taiwan.
However, that would fly in the face of what the leaders of both Vanuatu and Solomon Islands declared in China last week, when they signed joint statements supporting Beijing's push for "reunification" with Taiwan.