French Polynesia's pro-independence Tavini Huiraatira Party has expressed its indignation over reports of violence on Chile's Easter Island.
The party says it is surprised that soldiers used arms against indigenous civilians when Chile is a democratic country that has known the horrors of a dictatorship.
It says the incident is reminiscent of the most serious time of colonial politics.
The statement says being thousands of kilometres off South America, Rapa Nui is a Polynesian island and no Polynesian can remain indifferent to the brutality meted out to fellow Polynesians.
