Vanuatu has condemned what has been described as a "shameful, racist, and neo-colonial rant" from a pro-French, New Caledonian lawmaker of France's national assembly.
Nicolas Metzdorf, an elected representative for the Pacific island territory, mocked Vanuatu for denouncing Paris's claim of sovereignty over the disputed Matthew and Hunter Islands at the United Nations.
Vanuatu's UN permanent representative, Odo Tevi, addressed its general assembly on September 28, declaring the islands "an integral part of Vanuatu's territory".
Mr Metzdorf responded by writing a satirical letter - which he posted on social media - in which he ridiculed Vanuatu's economy, its passport scheme and political ties with China, while sharing a map depicting redrafted borders between Vanuatu and what he termed the "French territory".
The First constituency of New Caledonia MP was referring to the maritime boundary Vanuatu once had with New Caledonia.
He referred to Vanuatu's PM, Jotham Napat, as leading the "Condominium of the New Hebrides", which was Vanuatu's colonial name until gaining independence from both Britain and France in 1980.
"Because of its insulting, neo-colonial and mocking tone toward Vanuatu as a sovereign nation, the public relations officer has taken the liberty to respond, as the Government of Vanuatu will not, and should never stoop so low as to dignify such correspondence with a formal Prime Ministerial reply," Vanuatu's Ministry of the Prime Minister said in a statement.
"The letter should be condemned in the strongest terms for what it is: a shameful, racist, and neo-colonial rant that has no place in the 21st century."
The statement pointed out that Vanuatu is not the New Hebrides, Matthew and Hunter islands are not the possession of France, and Mr Metzdorf's statement "is exactly what colonialism always was".
Vanuatu recently failed to come to an agreement with France over sovereignty of the two uninhabited volcanic islands, which Port Vila has cited historical and customary ties with the Indigenous people of Vanuatu's Aneityum Island.
The Vanuatu government is currently pursuing its legal options to the International Court of Justice.
"Do not lecture us about financial transparency, governance or humanitarian aid," the Ministry of the Prime Minister added.
"This is coming from a deputy of a territory whose own financial mismanagement and corruption is well known, where after 170 years of colonisation, real people of (New Caledonia) still do not own their own country.
"You send us aid after a cyclone that your climate policies helped make worse, and then you expect gratitude and obedience.
"Vanuatu is a sovereign nation - we are not a French province. We are not an experiment for you to study; we are not a rock for your companies to exploit."
The Ministry's statement says France should condemn Mr Metzdorf's letter, which it says will be forwarded to the Pacific Islands Forum and to the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation, as evidence of the colonial mindset that still exists within the French legislature.
French loyalists, including Mr Metzdorf, are currently fighting off the growing Indigenous Kanaky independence movement in New Caledonia.
