| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Down Under | |
| Australian support for Indonesia | |
| 2003-05-24 | |
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has offered his support to Indonesia in its fight against separatist rebels in Aceh. Mr Downer says Australia is behind Indonesia in its push to quell the rebels. "Let's not have any illusions about this — you do have a secessionist movement which has opted for violence," he said. "Aceh has always been a part of Indonesia. It was part of the Dutch East Indies before Indonesian independence. We absolutely support Indonesia's territorial integrity."
| |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #5 During the brief period of ceasefire, starting last December, I think, the first thing GAM did was institute Shariah. I hope the Indons kill 'em all. |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-05-25 09:10:28 |
| #4 Yes, it's probably true that breakdown of the imperium would risk more mistreatment of minorities. Nevertheless, I think it's a mistake for democracies to support "artificial states" like Indonesia. Too often the short-run benefits of stability are eclipsed by long-term damage, not only to the subject peoples trapped in such states, but to the idea of governance by popular consent. If Anglosphere governments won't stand up for that idea, who will? |
| Posted by: Alan Sullivan 2003-05-24 20:55:17 |
| #3 I have to agree with Closet Neo-con on this one. Every time there is significant unrest in part of Indonesia, the Christians (and probably other religious minorities) get slaughtered. The lucky ones receive forced circumcisions (men, women, and children, from infants up through the very old) and forced conversion to Islam. Refusal means beheading or being burned alive in your home, and people aren't always even given that choice. Unfortunately, the central government or at least the military has been complicit in some of this by passively allowing this violence to occur right in front of them or in some cases actively assisting in it, but I suspect some of that has to do with the Christians being part of the separatist movement. And in other cases the government has protected them. So no, I don't think it's a good idea for the Christians to support separation. I think if they got independence, the Jihadis would wipe them out quite quickly. |
| Posted by: Kathy 2003-05-24 15:28:05 |
| #2 When the "Javanese Empire" was strong, the Christian position was generally OK -- lots of Christian Bataks, for example, in high levels in the Indo. government. When central authority declined after 1997, the Christian position weakened greatly. This is true in Jakarta (where most Christians are Chinese), in the Moluccas, in northern and Eastern Sulaweisi, and elsewhere. Indonesia is a an artificial state if ever there was one, and certainly the West Papuans (and many others) would, in a just world, get independence. But I am afraid that if Indonesia fails, the Christians and animists (whose religion is, by the way, technically illegal) will be slaughtered by the droves. |
| Posted by: closet neo-con 2003-05-24 13:22:52 |
| #1 I've read that the separatist movement in Aceh is at least partly Christian. Indonesia's Christian minority has been ill-treated throughout the country. Australia is taking the wrong side in this, favoring stability for fear of change. One understands Australia's concern about a tidal wave of boat people, in the event that Indonesia fractures; but the Javanese empire is brutal, capricous, and likely to fall anyway, sooner or later. |
| Posted by: Alan Sullivan 2003-05-24 12:35:46 |