By Wendy Robertson
The thousands-strong protests in Dili and the 29 East Timorese students occupying the US Embassy in Jakarta have again focused international attention on the plight of the East Timorese under Indonesian occupation. This campaign has been joined by international solidarity actions at a time when Western governments, particularly of the US and Australia, are relying heavily on the Indonesian government to assist them to push the economic integration of the Asia-Pacific into the US/Australian economic sphere.
The absurd claim by foreign minister Gareth Evans that the actions in Dili involved only 100 people hardly encourage belief in other statements by him, for example that there are moves in Indonesia for a sharp cut in troops in 1995 and that "autonomy"is still on the agenda. The day after Evans' meeting with Indonesian foreign minister Ali Alatas, the latter clearly stated there was no way that Indonesia would consider troop reductions or any "special" status for East Timor.
These admissions followed only days after Evans' foreign relations debacle over the issue of arms sales to Thailand when he publicly retracted earlier statements on Thai involvement in support for the Khmer Rouge. The events underline the difficulties the Labor government faces in trying to put a human face on its basic policy of guaranteeing business interests in the region.
On the defensive last week, Keating said, "In Australia's case, we are doing something tangible in seeking to develop East Timor and the whole province, to try and make economic opportunities, employment and living standards better in that part of Indonesia". Such claims need to be understood in the context of the Labor government's support for a regime which "develops" by means of daily wages of less than A$2 per day, enforced by military repression of independent trade union activity.
The Suharto dictatorship also guarantees access to resources such as the oil reserves in the Timor Sea, being jointly exploited by Australian oil companies and their Indonesian counterparts, which are directly linked to the Suharto family regime. These conditions help to explain why more than 120 Australian companies are active in Indonesia.
"Australians today and especially young people support the East Timorese struggle for self-determination. We have no faith in the ALP's public position of sympathy for East Timor and aim to build an independent campaign to involve and mobilise huge numbers of young people in solidarity with East Timor", said Natasha Simmons, Resistance national coordinator. "We identify with the young people of East Timor who are leading the fight for their liberation.
"We support the demands of the Timorese to free Fretilin leader Xanana Gusmao and all other political prisoners in Indonesia and East Timor, including the 220 people arrested in Dili last week. We support the call for international recognition of the legitimate representatives of the East Timorese people — CNRM, FRETILIN, UDT and the East Timorese church — and for a full, independent investigation of the Dili massacre."