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East Timor & Indonesia

East Timor & Indonesia. A (very) brief history of Indonesia. Trading centre during the 1600s onwards Dutch East India Company (dissolved in 1800) Netherlands established Dutch East Indies as a Dutch colony

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East Timor & Indonesia

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  1. East Timor & Indonesia

  2. A (very) brief history of Indonesia • Trading centre during the 1600s onwards • Dutch East India Company (dissolved in 1800) • Netherlands established Dutch East Indies as a Dutch colony • WWII: Japanese invasion and occupation ended Dutch rule and encouraged the previously suppressed Independence movement. • 1945 Sukarno declared independence and was appointed President of Indonesia.

  3. A (very) brief history of Indonesia • Netherlands tried to re-establish their rule, armed and diplomatic struggle ensued, but ended in December 1949. • Sukarno moved towards authoritarianism. • There was an attempted coup on 30 Sept 1965 and the army retaliated, led an anti-communist purge. Between 500,000 and one million people were killed.

  4. A (very) brief history of Indonesia • General Suharto took over and became President in March 1968. • The US supported this “New Order Administration”. • The new administration encouraged FDI, growing the economy (3 decades of substantial economic growth). • Allegations of corruption and suppression of political opposition.

  5. A (very) brief history of Indonesia • Asian Financial Crisis in 1997-1998. • This led to protests and Suharto resigned in May 1999. • 1999 East Timor voted to secede from Indonesia after a 25 year military occupation • Since Suharto the democratic process has been strengthened. • Prosecutions for corruption of previous governments has occurred.

  6. East Timor • http://hass.unsw.adfa.edu.au/Timor/index.html • Film: Balibo

  7. Public Opinion

  8. 1975 • Australia acknowledged the ‘inevitability’ of Indonesia annexing East Timor. • Why?

  9. The ‘Change and Continuity’ • Hawke – Dibb report published about importance of Indonesia. • Keating said under no circumstances was he ‘prepared to place Australia’s complex relationship with 210 million people on hold over this one issue’. • Human Rights were secondary to other national interests and the fear of instability spreading to Australia was a factor.

  10. The ‘Change and Continuity’ • Howard – 1997 white paper In the National Interest said Indonesia was one of the most substantial regional interests. • Howard, however, was not willing to ignore the human rights issues for the sake of economic interests. • Intervention in 2001. “Defending the values we hold as Australians”

  11. Questions… • How have new challenges in Australia’s relationship with Indonesia highlighted old tensions? • Why do you think Howard took a different view to previous PMs?

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