Feb
14
2008
by Joseph Saunders
Much of the commentary since Suharto’s death on Jan. 27 has focused on his economic legacy. Of late, triumphalist accounts seem to be eclipsing more nuanced assessments, as observers debate whether overall economic growth during his 32-year tenure overshadowed the nepotism and corruption that marred his rule. Suharto’s political and human rights legacy, wrongly pushed to the sidelines, is at least of equal importance in assessing his record and the challenges facing Indonesia today.
Democracy was already in retreat during the turbulent last years of Sukarno immediately preceding Suharto’s ascension. In 1965-66, Indonesia was in upheaval. While Suharto brought stability, he did so at enormous cost, orchestrating pogroms that killed hundreds of thousands of suspected communists and sympathizers and unleashed broader violence.
Suharto then proceeded to reshape government in ways that destroyed all hopes of democracy for the entire duration of his rule. While Indonesia is impossibly diverse in ethnic terms and notoriously difficult to govern, Suharto’s approach was to eviscerate the rule of law and make the military his prime instrument of social control. With censorship integral to his rule, he left precious little space even for discussion of his policies. Indonesia has spent much of the past ten years recovering from the consequences.
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Feb
13
2008
by Min Zin
Burma’s military junta is testing the response of the international community. When world leaders say they are “concerned” about the situation in Burma, then “increasingly concerned,” then “gravely concerned,” and then—inexplicably—just “concerned” again, the generals in the Naypyidaw jungle smile and push forward with their hard-line stance.
It is hardly surprising that the junta is refusing an immediate return of United Nation’s Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari and defying the U.N.’s calls for an inclusive national reconciliation process, now that the regime feels confident it is bringing the country back under control after its deadly crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations last September.
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Feb
09
2008
by Ulrich Volz
There is much worry about the strength of the American economy and the future role of the U.S. dollar these days. The subprime crisis has raised concerns about the stability of the U.S. financial system and growth prospects for the U.S. economy in general. Financial flows into the U.S., which have fuelled economic growth over the past decade, have decreased markedly since last summer, reflecting and reinforcing uncertainty about the U.S. economy. The depreciation of the dollar has gained speed and fear is growing that this might develop into a severe dollar crisis.
These developments are disconcerting for the whole world economy, given the prevalent role that the U.S. still plays for global growth and the role of the dollar as the world’s leading currency. But more than for any other region, the U.S. economy is turning into a problem for East Asian countries.
Unlike the European economy, which has become much more self-sufficient in the process of European integration, East Asian economies are still highly dependent on developments in America. This is particularly true with respect to monetary and financial issues.
There are essentially two problems: firstly, most East Asian currencies are still linked to the dollar, either rigidly like in China and Hong Kong or in the form of soft pegs. Secondly, due to a lack of deep and liquid capital markets in most of East Asia, large chunks of savings and official reserves are invested in the U.S. financial market—in U.S. dollars.
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Feb
08
2008
by Robert Sirico
How important is private property to the idea of freedom? Since the dawn of time, intellectuals have imagined a world in which all things are commonly owned and people achieve perfect freedom. In fact, this is sheer fantasy, and a dangerous one at that. There is no such thing as freedom in a world in which property is not privately owned and controlled.
As a case in point, consider the protests that recently took place outside St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Hanoi, Vietnam. People set up vigils to make one simple request: that the Cathedral be restored to its rightful owner. It was seized by the communists in the late 1950s. Today, much of the right of property ownership is being restored in this country. You can trade stocks and own homes and businesses.
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Feb
04
2008
by Michael Vatikiotis
Jusuf Ronodipuro never wore his revolutionary credentials on his sleeve. The man who first brought knowledge of Indonesia’s freedom to the world’s attention by reading out the proclamation of independence on Aug. 17, 1945, was never one to boast about his role in the country’s colonial struggle. He called himself a “bit player.” Yet Ronodipuro, who died at the age of 88 on Jan. 27, 2008, in Jakarta, was a quiet inspiration for generations of Indonesians who, if they were lucky enough to know him, saw through him the extent to which the ideals and values of nationhood had been squandered and lost.
Born in Salatiga, in central Java in 1919, Jusuf enjoyed the reasonably privileged upbringing of the Javanese priyayi class. He attended good native schools and found work in Jakarta working for General Motors. When the Japanese invaded the young Jusuf found work as a reporter for the Hoso Kyoko Japanese military radio station. It was here in August 1945 that Jusuf was called upon to broadcast the declaration of independence, which was hastily read out on Aug. 17 by Sukarno.
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Feb
02
2008
by Jeremy Sarkin
Dealing with past atrocities and human rights violations has not been high on the agenda of many Asian countries. Yet countries across the region are beginning to grapple with the issue of past crimes against humanity, genocide and other human rights violations.
As they start this difficult process, questions that need to be addressed include whether there should be criminal trials, whether there should be a truth and reconciliation commission (TRC), whether victims ought to receive reparations and whether other mechanisms need to be established to achieve various goals, including reconciliation.
These are important issues. How a society deals with its past is a major determining factor as to whether that society will achieve long-term peace and stability. Reconciliation in countries, and between countries, is crucial to prevent tensions, hostility and conflict.
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Jan
31
2008
by Sophie Richardson
Late last year, Philip Alston, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, released his final report on the Philippines. The results were not encouraging: Mr. Alston found that at least 100 journalists, labor leaders, land reform advocates, and church members had been killed by the government since 2005.
That’s when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s declaration of an “all-out war” against the New People’s Army insurgency was interpreted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines as a license to kill leftists. Those killed were not casualties of firefights on the battlefield, but persons taken into custody and summarily executed.
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Jan
31
2008
by Robert A. Sirico
A joke is making the rounds in Burma, where dramatic political instability has pitted a repressive regime against protesting Buddhist monks. It speaks of the five great enemies of mankind: water, fire, the king, the thief, and a person who bears ill will towards another. The joke adds this: “Now we have only three enemies left, since the king, the thief and the one who bears ill will towards another are the same.”
This is remarkably true and poignantly illustrated by the way in which religion is playing a central role in the struggle for democratic freedoms in this country. The Buddhist monks seek only religious freedom and some semblance of morality in public affairs. During their protests they have been fired upon and arrested and jailed by the many hundreds.
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Jan
28
2008
by Jeremy Wagstaff
The only time Suharto was seen crying was when his wife, Ibu Tien, died in 1996. As with most the key watersheds in the New Order, the moment is cloaked in mystery. But his tears told us more about the man than anything else he said or did in 31 years of being Indonesia’s president.
Some time between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Sunday, April 28, Ibu Tien had awoken. She slept alone: They had been married 48 years but in recent times had grown apart. She had grown tired of the trappings of power, and had watched as her children’s avarice destroyed the family and as her husband renege on promises to step down. The previous day she had visited her beloved horticultural garden outside Jakarta. None of her family was with her and, to those who accompanied her, it seemed as if she was saying goodbye.
She died on the way to hospital. Word quickly spread and Javanese began to whisper: the spiritual mandate, or wahyu, was with her. Suharto cannot last long without her. Even his own guards talked of it among themselves. Suharto wandered around in a daze as the nation, nursing an affection for her that seemed to transcend the gossip about her dark influence, was swept by mourning. Continue Reading »
Jan
28
2008
(This article first appeared in Edit Page of The Wall Street Journal Asia on Monday, Jan. 28. )
by Hugo Restall
Will history treat Suharto kindly? Certainly many of his countrymen today do not. Last year students protested in Jakarta over the government’s decision not to prosecute him for corruption, even as the former Indonesian president lay on his sickbed. Abroad, too, it is fashionable to sneer. Many mention him in the same breath as Mobutu Sese Seko, another officer turned strongman, who plundered Zaire from the mid-1960s to the late 1990s. Suharto is accused of similar avarice over the same period, and vastly inflated estimates of his family fortune are blithely tossed around.
But the pendulum of condemnation has swung too far, and Suharto’s death yesterday should be the impetus for a reappraisal of his legacy. While it is right for the unsavory aspects of the “New Order” government to be remembered, the positive contributions of the man who made Indonesia a respected member of the international community deserve at least equal emphasis.
Consider that when Gen. Suharto came to power after a failed communist coup in 1965, Indonesia was an economic basket case and a troublemaker in the region. The pro-communist populism of President for Life Sukarno had led the country down a dead end. Think of him as the Hugo Chavez of his era. Continue Reading »