DATE=2/22/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-42670
TITLE=EAST TIMOR (1): HISTORIC CHANGE
BYLINE=STEPHANIE MANN
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: FOR THE PAST 23 YEARS, INDONESIA HAS SUMMARILY DISMISSED
ANY SUGGESTION IT SHOULD RELINQUISH CONTROL OVER THE TERRITORY OF
EAST TIMOR. AND THE INDONESIAN ARMY HAS FOUGHT CONTINUOUSLY
AGAINST TIMORESE INDEPENDENCE FORCES ON THE ISLAND. NOW, THERE
IS A POSSIBILITY EAST TIMOR MAY GAIN ITS INDEPENDENCE. (IN THE
FIRST OF A THREE-PART SERIES) V-O-A'S STEPHANIE MANN LOOKS AT THE
BACKGROUND OF THIS HISTORIC CHANGE IN INDONESIAN POLICY.
TEXT: // OPT // EAST TIMOR IS HALF THE ISLAND OF TIMOR, WHICH IS
LOCATED IN THE INDONESIAN ARCHIPELAGO ABOUT 200-KILOMETERS
NORTHWEST OF AUSTRALIA. ITS 800-THOUSAND PEOPLE ARE MOSTLY ROMAN
CATHOLIC. THE TERRITORY RECEIVES SUBSTANTIAL SUBSIDIES FROM
JAKARTA AND HAS SOME INCOME FROM COFFEE AND OTHER AGRICULTURAL
PRODUCTS. IT ALSO HAS UNDEVELOPED OIL AND GAS RESERVES. // END
OPT //
EAST TIMOR'S MODERN HISTORY DATES BACK TO THE DAYS OF EUROPEAN
EXPLORERS -- WHEN PORTUGAL, SPAIN, THE NETHERLANDS, FRANCE, AND
ENGLAND SENT SAILING SHIPS TO COMPETE FOR COLONIES AROUND THE
WORLD. THE DUTCH CLAIMED MOST OF WHAT IS NOW INDONESIA,
INCLUDING WESTERN TIMOR, AND EAST TIMOR BECAME A PORTUGUESE
COLONY.
DONALD EMMERSON IS A PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND SOUTHEAST
ASIAN STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN.
// EMMERSON ACT ONE //
EAST TIMOR WAS AN OUTPOST OF THE PORTUGUESE EMPIRE. THE
PORTUGUESE ARRIVED IN SOUTHEAST ASIA REALLY EARLY IN THE
16TH CENTURY. AND IT WAS FRANKLY NEGLECTED BY ... THE
PORTUGUESE AUTHORITIES. IT LANGUISHED IN THE SOUTHERN
PACIFIC UNTIL THE MID-1970'S.
// END ACT //
AFTER A LEFT-LEANING REVOLUTION IN PORTUGAL IN 1974, THE
GOVERNMENT IN LISBON PROMISED FREEDOM TO ITS COLONIES AND
WITHDREW FROM EAST TIMOR. THIS LED TO THE RISE OF VARIOUS
FACTIONS, INCLUDING A STRONG EAST TIMORESE INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT.
FIGHTING ERUPTED BETWEEN THE LEFTIST INDEPENDENCE FRONT AND OTHER
GROUPS. INDONESIA INVADED THE TERRITORY IN 1975 AND ANNEXED IT
THE NEXT YEAR.
PROFESSOR EMMERSON SAYS THOSE DEVELOPMENTS MUST BE SEEN IN THE
CONTEXT OF THE ATMOSPHERE AT THE TIME -- THE COLD WAR AND THE WAR
IN VIETNAM. HE SAYS INDONESIAN ARMY GENERALS WERE WORRIED ABOUT
WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN IF EAST TIMOR BECAME INDEPENDENT AND COMMUNIST.
INDONESIA SPECIALIST ALASDAIR BOWIE AGREES.
// BOWIE ACT ONE //
INDONESIA INVADED AND THEN ANNEXED (EAST) TIMOR AT A
TIME WHEN THE WORLD WAS LOOKING AT THE END OF THE
VIETNAM WAR, AND THE FOCUS OF THE INDONESIANS WAS A: TO
PREVENT WHAT THEY PERCEIVED TO BE THE SPREAD OF
COMMUNISM AND B: TO INTEGRATE A TERRITORY THAT THEY
THOUGHT WOULD BE UNSTABLE IF LEFT ON ITS OWN. THE
INDONESIANS HAVE BEEN CRITICIZED FOR THIS FOR MORE THAN
20 YEARS.
// END ACT //
INDONESIA'S HANDLING OF EAST TIMOR OVER THE PAST 23 YEARS HAS
BEEN CONTROVERSIAL. HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS ESTIMATE
100-THOUSAND PEOPLE HAVE DIED FROM FAMINE, DISEASE, OR FIGHTING.
THE ARMY HAS CLASHED CONTINUALLY WITH SEPARATIST REBELS HIDING IN
IN THE MOUNTAINS WHO CARRY OUT HIT-AND-RUN OPERATIONS AGAINST THE
TROOPS. INDONESIAN AUTHORITIES HAVE ALSO SUPPRESSED AND JAILED
ANY CIVILIANS WHO SPEAK OUT AGAINST JAKARTA'S RULE OR IN FAVOR OF
INDEPENDENCE. AND MASS KILLINGS OF PROTESTERS HAVE RECEIVED
PROMINENT INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION AND CRITICISM.
// OPT // THE UNITED NATIONS NEVER RECOGNIZED INDONESIA'S
ANNEXATION OF EAST TIMOR AND STILL CONSIDERS PORTUGAL THE
COLONIAL AUTHORITY. // END OPT //
THE GOVERNMENT OF FORMER PRESIDENT SUHARTO WAS UNWILLING TO ALTER
ITS POSITION ON INDONESIAN SOVEREIGNTY OVER EAST TIMOR. BUT
AFTER HE RESIGNED LAST MAY AND B-J HABIBIE BECAME PRESIDENT, THE
POLICY DRAMATICALLY CHANGED. INDONESIA BEGAN NEGOTIATIONS WITH
PORTUGAL ABOUT EAST TIMOR'S FUTURE. IN EARLY FEBRUARY IT,
REMOVED THE LEADER OF THE INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT FROM PRISON AND
PUT HIM UNDER HOUSE ARREST. AND THEN PRESIDENT HABIBIE SAID EAST
TIMOR COULD BECOME INDEPENDENT.
PROFESSOR EMMERSON SAYS MR. HABIBIE WAS ABLE TO MAKE SUCH A
CHANGE BECAUSE HE IS NOT CLOSELY TIED TO THE PREVIOUS POLICY.
// EMMERSON ACT 2 //
I THINK THAT WITH THE TRANSITION FROM SUHARTO TO HABIBIE
-- THAT IS, HABIBIE'S REPLACING SUHARTO AS PRESIDENT OF
INDONESIA IN MAY OF 1998 -- YOU HAD A MAN IN POWER WHO
WAS NOT PERSONALLY INVOLVED IN THE DECISION TO INVADE
EAST TIMOR BACK IN THE 1970'S AND WHO REALLY THOUGHT:
"THIS IS A MILLSTONE AROUND OUR NECK. OUR ECONOMY IS IN
VERY BAD SHAPE. WE NEED OUTSIDE ASSISTANCE. LET'S SEE
IF WE CAN SOLVE THIS PROBLEM. IF THE EAST TIMORESE
DON'T WANT TO BE PART OF INDONESIA, LET THEM BECOME
INDEPENDENT." AND THAT'S WHERE WE ARE AT THE MOMENT.
// END ACT //
PROFESSOR ALASDAIR BOWIE, WHO TEACHES SOUTHEAST ASIAN POLITICS
AND ECONOMICS AT GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, SAYS MR. HABIBIE'S
DECISION ALSO STEMS FROM HIS OWN POLITICAL AMBITIONS.
// BOWIE, ACT 2 //
B-J HABIBIE WOULD LIKE TO BE MORE THAN JUST INTERIM
PRESIDENT. HE WOULD LIKE TO BE CHOSEN IN OCTOBER TO BE
THE NEXT PRESIDENT FOR A FIVE-YEAR TERM. AND TO DO SO,
HE NEEDS TO MOBILIZE INTERNATIONAL RESOURCES FOR HIS
ECONOMY, NOT ONLY THE PROMINENT I-M-F BAILOUT PACKAGE
TRANCHES, BUT ALSO AID FROM JAPAN, THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT
BANK, THE WORLD BANK AND OTHER SOURCES. IT WOULD JUST
BE MUCH EASIER FOR HIM TO MOBILIZE THESE RESOURCES AND,
THEREFORE, TO PROMOTE HIS CHANCES OF BECOMING MORE THAN
INTERIM PRESIDENT IF HE COULD REMOVE THE ISSUE OF EAST
TIMOR FROM THE AGENDA.
// END ACT //
PROFESSOR BOWIE SAYS INDONESIA WILL MAKE ITS DECISION ABOUT EAST
TIMOR'S FUTURE BASED ON THE COUNTRY'S OVERALL SITUATION -- TAKING
INTO CONSIDERATION ITS ECONOMIC TROUBLES AND THE CIVIL UNREST
THAT IS SHAKING MANY PARTS OF INDONESIA.
PROFESSOR EMMERSON SAYS HE IS OPTIMISTIC THAT NOW, FOR THE FIRST
TIME, THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF REAL MOVEMENT ON THE QUESTION OF
EAST TIMOR. BUT HE SAYS HE HOPES ALL PARTIES TO THE ISSUE ARE
NOT TOO HASTY AND BEHAVE IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE EAST
TIMORESE PEOPLE. (SIGNED)
NEB/SMN
22-Feb-99 1:14 PM EST (1814 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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