[Opinion] Africa’s Vietnam

In France, there is a government department named the “Overseas Department,” which other nations do not have. It is a department that takes charge of overseas districts (d’epartements) and territories called DOM and TOM, respectively. Since DOM and TOM are guaranteed considerable autonomy by the law, they cannot be called 100 percent French territory. Nonetheless, because French forces are stationed in most of them and they rely on subsidies granted by the French government, they are in foreigners’ eyes, virtually French territories. In terms of overseas territories, it is hard for France to avoid being criticized as an “imperialistic nation” that has colonies in the 21st century.

Polynesia and Nouvelle Calédonie in the South Pacific, and Guyana and Guadeloupe in South America are examples of France’s overseas territories. The area of the islands and waters of Polynesia, which includes Tahiti, an island famous for tourism, are vast enough be tantamount to that of the European continent. France conducted nuclear tests on the coral reefs until the middle of the 1990s. It could not have been possible to even dream about this if it were considered foreign soil.

Vestiges of French colonies remain here and there in Africa as well. In ex-French colonies including Gabon, Senegal, and Djibouti, French forces remain on station without fail. Although the size of the presence ranges only from several hundred to several thousand, the political, military, and economic influence that France exerts in its host countries is immense. After winning independence from France’s colonial rule, Cote d’Ivoire still relies on France. Having been famous as an exporter of ivories during the era of invasions of Africa by the Great Powers, this country changed its name, which means “coast of ivory” in French.

France is paying dearly for its colonial management in Cote d’Ivoire. After French forces stationed in Cote d’Ivoire that were deployed to stop an internal conflict from spreading took strong revenge against the local government’s accidental bombing of its troops, some 10,000 French residents there became the targets of plunder and arson. The speaker of Cote d’Ivoire’s National Assembly threatened that France will suffer greatly, saying, “Vietnam will not be a sufficient comparison.” France is a nation that stood in the front of the line to criticize the U.S. invasion of Iraq. It is quite curious how France will comment on its own actions, which show off mighty forces against poor African nations.

Bang Hyung-nam, Editorial Writer, hnbhang@donga.com