It seems the 'international community' (aka UN) is at odds with the
'transnational community' (aka APEC, IMF, etc) over the East Timor
pillage and genocide. The supporters of 'trade liberalisation' have
taken the view that a mere 200,000 lives is a reasonable price for
control over the Timor Gap oil resource and maintenance of Indonesia's
cheap-labour regime. However, Clinton came out against the human rights
violations and caused the tide of US support to turn against Indonesia
in 1993.
>From Amnesty International's 1999 report:
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/etimor33.htm
"The conflict in East Timor began after Indonesian troops invaded and
occupied East Timor in 1975, following the withdrawal from the territory
of the former colonial power, Portugal. An Act of Integration
promulgated by Indonesia the following year was not recognized by the
international community or by the UN."
>From Matthew Jardine's 1994 report (following the Jakarta APEC meeting):
http://www.zmag.org/zmag/articles/jan94jardine.htm
"U.S. support in 1975 for Indonesia's designs on East Timor was
principally a reward for Suharto's cooperation with Western geopolitical
and political-economic objectives; to a lesser extent it also grew out
of concerns that an independent East Timor might lead to regional
instability. Similar interests motivated other Western countries, the
majority of which followed the U.S. lead. But East Timor in and of
itself was of relatively marginal concern to U.S. policymakers;
Indonesia was and is what matters."
* * * *
"Indonesia is today the world's fourth most populous country and the
world's largest Muslim country. It is a moderate member of OPEC, the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and generally supportive
of U.S. and Western foreign policy objectives. Indonesia's staunch
anti-communism, strategic location, and wealth of natural resources have
made it very attractive to Western interests. Its liberal investment
laws and repressive labor conditions have helped it develop into a major
center for multinational corporate activity with extensive mining,
logging, and oil extraction operations. With a legal minimum wage of
less than $2 a day, Indonesia is a leading manufacturing site for
products ranging from Nike footwear to Levi Strauss jeans."
* * * *
"Clinton's APEC visit was the first trip to Jakarta by a U.S. president
since 1975. Whether by coincidence or design, President Ford and
Secretary of State Kissinger were visiting Indonesian President Suharto
during the two days preceding the December 7, 1975 Indonesian invasion
of the newly-independent East Timor. There is little doubt that the U.S.
gave Suharto the green light to invade. In Jakarta the day before the
invasion with President Ford, U.S. Secretary of State Kissinger told
reporters that 'the United States understands Indonesia's position on
the question' of East Timor."
* * * *
"During [his first] presidential campaign, Clinton called U.S. policy on
East Timor "unconscionable," but his record since taking office is mixed
at best. At the March 1993 meeting of the UN Human Rights Commission,
the U.S. delegation reversed its historical intransigence and
co-sponsored a resolution condemning Indonesian human rights violations
in East Timor. (The fact that a number of Western countries--including
Australia, who would have otherwise voted against the
resolution--supported it is indicative not only of the preeminent
position of the U.S. in international politics, but also the key role of
the U.S. in East Timor's future.)"
Regards
Brian Jenkins
Alister Air wrote on 2 September 1999 16:34
|At 16:10 2/09/99 +0800, Brian Jenkins wrote:
|
|>(We may not even need to go that far, because Australia is the only
|>member of the "international community" which recognises the brutal
and
|>illegal Indonesian occupation of East Timor.)
|
|Is that actually true? I had thought that - at least tacitly - the US
both
|recognised Indonesia's invasion and further were quite happy when they
invaded.
|
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