evidence: In 1929, France took possession of Hunter and Matthew Islands and attached their management to their then-colony New Hebrides, now Vanuatu. After a quarrel with the United Kingdom 47 years later, in 1976, France decided to entrust the management of these two islets to another Pacific colony, New Caledonia. In 1980, after 74 years of colonialism, the Republic of Vanuatu was created. With its independence came the desire to recover Hunter and Matthew Islands, that it claimed as its own. Three years after, the only ship of the ni-Vanuatu Navy unbolted the French sovereignty plate established on the islands and planted the flag of their country. For the French, this was an unacceptable test of their sovereignty in the South Pacific and its military was immediately sent to resettle its sovereignty. [...] Similarly, in 2009, the New Caledonia pro-independence party, the FLNKS, signed the Keamu Declaration with the Vanuatu prime minister, recognising the customary membership of Hunter and Matthew Islands to Vanuatu. The document was later denounced by the French government.