One of France's farthest-flung and most exotic colonial possessions, French Polynesia, elected its first pro-independence leader yesterday in a blow to the government in Paris. . . .
France annexed the archipelago, a collection of 118 islands and atolls scattered over an area the size of Europe, in the 19th century.
Mr Temaru's election marks the end of a 20-year reign by his conservative predecessor Gaston Flosse, 72, a friend of Mr Chirac and staunch opponent of independence. . . .
France is likely to oppose any move towards independence. Thousands of French troops and civil servants are based on Tahiti.
"French Polynesia is part of France's aspirations to have a presence in every ocean and any loss of territory would have an impact on their status as a power with global reach," said Mr Maclellan. "The territory also has a huge exclusive economic zone, with rights to fishing and sea bed minerals."
People are calling it a "political earthquake" in the region.
