Deplorable nuclear move
Barely than a month after assuming office French President Jacques Chirac made a decision on Tuesday that has drawn protests and condemnation worldwide. Political analysts have even gone so far as to say his choice is tainting the reputation of France, a richly cultured Western country, which has given birth to many humanists and which for decades has fostered good relations with peace loving countries, including its former colonies in the South Pacific.
France's decision to resume its nuclear tests on the Mururoa Atoll in the South Pacific, stopped since 1992 upon the instruction of then president Francois Mitterrand, has unleashed a flood of protests from many countries, especially from nations close to the test site.
The controversial decision, made at a time when most countries have agreed to the United Nations-sponsored extension of the nuclear non-proliferation scheme, the treaty for which was signed just last month at UN headquarters in New York, has truly astounded peoples and nations in the four corners of the world.
The planned tests, scheduled to begin in September and to continue to Feb. 8 next year, obviously will do great environmental damage, not to mention the hazard posed due to the radioactive fallout, which could affect hundreds of thousands of innocent people, who live near the test site.
Hence it is understandable that countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, whose geographical locations are relatively close to the Mururoa Atoll, are denouncing the move emphatically. In response, both the Canberra and Wellington administrations have frozen military ties with France, after accusing Paris of colonial arrogance and depicting President Chirac as "an arrogant Napoleonic figure".
New Zealand's Prime Minister Jim Bolger said that he would be "perfectly happy" if New Zealanders chose to protest France's move by boycotting French consumer goods.
Decades ago the world might have been able to understand and maybe even accept the justification that France's policy was due to the need to maintain its defense credibility through development of its nuclear arsenal.
But with end of the Cold War and the surge of global cooperation through which the previous massive spending on arms development can be channeled into humanitarian projects and used for the development of the poorer countries of the South, President Chirac's move appears obsolete and counter to current international political trends.
It stands to reason that many analysts think that what the newly-elected French president has done is more for his own publicity that anything else in that his policy has made the headlines of newspapers worldwide.
Besides, it is almost unbelievable that a highly-cultured country such as France -- which has given birth to many outstanding philosophers, literary figures and artists, such as Voltaire, Descartes, Hugo, Camus and Gauguin -- could suddenly become so threatening and aggressive with its nuclear arsenal.
As a matter of fact, France could simply improve its nuclear arms capability by means of simulated nuclear blasts, thanks to the rapid development of computer science and technology, rather than conducting tests, which may endanger the safety and health of the people in the South Pacific.
We also believe that if President Chirac would only heed the cries of outrage heard worldwide, the good reputation and image of France, which his predecessor painstakingly built for decades, could prevail in the South Pacific, as well as in other parts of the world.
In light of this, we call on the French government to drop the tests. We are of the opinion that conducting any kind nuclear experimentation in someone's else region, where other independent and self-governing nations exist, is not only unethical, but also deplorable.