DATE=6/26/98
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-40797
TITLE=INDONESIA/ ETHNIC CHINESE
BYLINE=LISA WEAVER
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:

INTRO: THE EXODUS OF ETHNIC CHINESE FROM INDONESIA FOLLOWING THE
RIOTING THAT LED FORMER PRESIDENT SUHARTO TO STEP DOWN TOOK AWAY
A THRIVING SECTOR OF SOCIETY, BUT ALSO AN ESTIMATED 15 BILLION
DOLLARS. AS LISA WEAVER REPORTS FROM JAKARTA, THE CHINESE WHO
REMAIN SAY THEY ARE LEFT FEELING VULNERABLE, WITH LITTLE HOPE THE
FUTURE WILL BRING MUCH CHANGE.

TEXT: WU YAO YAO IS COMING BACK TO LIVE IN HIS APARTMENT, A
MONTH AFTER THE HIGH RISE COMPLEX WHERE HE LIVES WAS PARTIALLY
BURNED AND RANSACKED BY ANGRY MOBS.

//YAO ACT//

(IN ENGLISH) YEAH, IN FACT WE FEEL THAT THIS IS OUR COUNTRY,
ONLY A MATTER OF FACT THAT A PART OF THE INDONESIAN PEOPLE, THEY
HAVE A NEGATIVE THINKING THAT ALL THE CHINESE ARE RICH, ALL THE
CHINESE HAVE A BETTER LIFE THAN THEM, YOU KNOW. I THINK THAT IS
WRONG THINKING -- NOT ALL THE CHINESE ARE RICH.

//END ACT//

MANY OF INDONESIA'S WEALTHY CHINESE FLED THE COUNTRY IN THE WAKE
OF RIOTING THAT LEFT HUNDREDS OF STORES AND HOMES DESTROYED. MR.
WU, LIKE MANY IN THE MIDDLE CLASS, IS STAYING. BUT HE SAYS IF
RIOTS BREAK OUT AGAIN, HE WILL MOVE HIS FAMILY TO MALAYSIA OR
SINGAPORE.

MR. WU AND HIS NEIGHBORS ARE EAGER TO CONVEY A DEGREE OF NORMALCY
IN THE MIDST OF CONTINUED CHAOS. THEY ARE RELUCTANT TO TALK
ABOUT THE SUBJECT THAT HITS A SENSITIVE CHORD IN THEIR COMMUNITY
-- THE ALLEGED SYSTEMATIC RAPES OF HUNDREDS OF CHINESE WOMEN --
IN MANY CASES, IN FRONT OF THEIR LOVED ONES.

ANOTHER CHINESE RESIDENT OF JAKARTA, RITONG WIJAYA, SAYS THIS IS
AN ISSUE WITH WHICH MANY PEOPLE ARE HAVING TROUBLE COMING TO
GRIPS.

// ACT RITONG WIJAYA IN CHINESE -- FADE UNDER TRANSLATION //

"THERE WERE A LOT OF RAPES, BUT FEW PEOPLE WHO WILL TALK ABOUT
IT," HE SAYS.

HE INSISTS THERE WERE NO RAPES IN HIS APARTMENT COMPLEX -- THE
MITRA BAHARI APARTMENTS IN NORTH JAKARTA -- AN ASSERTION DISPUTED
BY A MANAGER AND OTHER RESIDENTS.

SOME MITRA BAHARI RESIDENTS MOVED TO A NEARBY APARTMENT COMPLEX
AFTER THE RIOTS. LIM SHU LIAN SAYS WHEN SHE SAW THE LOWER FLOORS
BEING BURNED AND HEARD MOBS BREAKING IN, SHE ESCAPED THROUGH THE
BACK OF HER SIXTH STORY APARTMENT. SHE SAYS SHE HEARD ABOUT MASS
RAPES, BUT DOES NOT KNOW THE DETAILS.

// ACT LIM SHU LIEN IN CHINESE -- FADE UNDER TRANSLATION //

"IT'S HARD TO SAY. EVERYTHING WAS SO CHAOTIC DURING THE RIOTS --
INDONESIA IS CHAOTIC EVEN NOW," SHE SAYS. "I LIVE HERE, AND I'M
AFRAID. IT'S ALREADY HAPPENED ONCE. WHAT ABOUT THE NEXT TIME?"

NADIA FROM KALYNANAMITRA, A WOMENS' SUPPORT GROUP, SAYS FEAR OF
WHAT MAY HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE IS WHAT KEEPS WITNESSES AND VICTIMS
SILENT. THE GROUP PLACED SEVERAL RAPE VICTIMS IN SAFE HOUSES
AFTER THE RIOTS. SINCE THEN, NADIA SAYS SHE HAS RECEIVED
THREATENING PHONE CALLS. A CATHOLIC PRIEST WHO ALSO HELPS RAPE
VICTIMS REPORTS RECEIVING A BOX OF DUMMY HAND GRENADES IN THE
MAIL.

NADIA ASSERTS THE RAPES, BURNING AND LOOTING WERE NOT RANDOM,
BUT WERE ORGANIZED POLITICAL ACTS.

// NADIA ACT //

THE PATTERN OF HOW THEY ATTACK, HOW THEY BURN, IS THE SAME ONE
PLACE TO ANOTHER PLACE. THERE WAS A GROUP OF MALES WHO TRAINED,
I DON'T KNOW WITH WHOM, WHO HAVE A TASK TO BURN, TO ATTACK, TO
RAPE THE CHINESE COMMUNITY.

//END ACT//

NADIA SAYS SHE KNOWS OF ONE OF THESE MEN -- NOW IN HIDING -- WHO
SAYS HE WAS TRAINED BY ONE OF THE MILITARY'S SPECIAL FORCES
REGIMENTS. ACTIVISTS WANT TO USE HIS TESTIMONY FOR AN
INVESTIGATION THEY PLAN TO LAUNCH.

THE CHINESE PLAY AN ACTIVE ROLE IN THE INDONESIAN ECONOMY.
TRADITIONALLY MERCHANTS AND BUSINESS OWNERS, THEIR ABSENCE HAS
BEEN SORELY FELT. BUSINESSES HAVE SHUT DOWN AND MUCH NEEDED
CAPITAL IS BEING DRAINED FROM THE COUNTRY. NOW SOME OF
INDONESIA'S POWER ELITE IS TRYING TO LURE CHINESE CAPITAL BACK
HOME.

//ACT - PROMINENT COMMUNITY FIGURE READING A STATEMENT IN BAHASA
INDONESIA //

MUSLIM LEADER ABDURRANHAM WAHID RECENTLY JOINED A TOP INDONESIAN
CHINESE BUSINESSMAN IN URGING THE SOME 120-THOUSAND ETHNIC
CHINESE WHO REMAIN ABROAD TO RETURN.

THE ETHNIC CHINESE BUSINESSMAN, WILLIAM SEORWIDJAYA, FORMER
OWNCER OF AN INDONESIAN CAR MANUFACTURER, SAYS IT IS IMPORTANT
FOR THE RECOVERY OF THE INDONESIAN ECONOMY THEY RETURN.

//SEORWIDJAYA ACT//

I THINK FOR SURE, WE FOREIGN INVESTORS WHO WOULD LIKE TO INVEST
IN INDONESIA WILL ALSO LOOK AT THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE FLEEING AWAY,
TO THE SOONER THEY ARE COMING BACK THE BETTER FOR THE ECONOMIC
SITUATION.

//END ACT//

MR. SEORWIDJAYA SAYS THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO REASSURE THE CHINESE
THEY CAN COUNT ON PROTECTION. BUT HE ALSO SAYS PART OF THE
REASON FOR THE RESENTMENT AGAINST THE CHINESE IS THAT THEY HAVE
KEPT THEMSELVES SEPARATE FROM THE REST OF INDONESIAN SOCIETY.
THE CHINESE MUST DO THEIR PART, HE SAYS, ADDING IT TAKES TWO
HANDS TO CLAP.

IT MAY BE TOO SOON TO TELL WHETHER INDONESIA'S CHINESE COMMUNITY
WILL FEEL WELCOMED WITH AN OPEN HAND -- OR CONTINUE TO FEEL
THREATENED WITH A CLOSED FIST. (SIGNED)

NEB/LW/GC/FC/MMK

26-Jun-98 9:47 AM EDT (1347 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America