Jay Solomon and I Made Sentana, Medan – All is quiet again in Indonesia's third-largest city – much too quiet.

After last week's rioting and looting left scores of people injured and caused massive property damage, residents are suddenly coping with a new problem: life without ethnic Chinese.

Terrified by last week's race-baiting mobs of indigenous Indonesians, most of the ethnic-Chinese businesspeople who run the local economy – as they do the economy of most of Indonesia – have shuttered their businesses and fled or gone into hiding. Though the military has restored order, that means supplies of everything from food to paintbrushes are growing scarce.

Significant impact

Equally important, because Medan's ethnic-Chinese merchants also handle most of this area's huge trade in such locally produced commodities as palm oil, coffee and rubber, last week's upheaval has ramifications far beyond this remote city on the island of Sumatra.

"None of our containers are going to port; we just don't want to take the risk," says Maria Garrunthia, an ethnic-Chinese coffee trader in Medan who says she supplies, among other customers, Starbucks Corp. in the US "We're all so scared. Hopefully things will return to normal this week."

The stakes here are huge, not only for Indonesia but for global commodity supplies. Indonesia's exports of oil, minerals and many types of agricultural goods earn the country critically needed foreign currency. In 1997, Indonesia was Asia's largest exporter of natural gas, the world's second-largest producer of crude palm oil, and among the top five producers of coffee. It also is a major exporter of gold, tin, copper, cocoa, and vanilla.

Major export center

The city of Medan and its ethnic-Chinese traders play a vital role in the country's commodity trade. The nearby port of Belawan accounts for about 7% of all Indonesian exports, including up to 35% of Indonesia's crude palm-oil shipments, estimates one Jakarta securities house. Other major commodities produced and traded in the area include rubber, coffee, tobacco and plywood.

Situated on the strategic Straits of Malacca, the Belawan port is the regional entreport for northern Sumatra. The port remained open last week as riots triggered by sharp increases in the price of fuel swept the city. But freight came to a near standstill for several days, because burning cars and debris – and also fear – kept truckers from plying the area's main roads. The resulting logjam underscored how vulnerable Indonesia's bare-bones transportation system is to disruption from civil unrest.

Earlier this month, the London-based War Risks Rating Committee, an arm of the international insurance industry, placed Indonesia on a list of countries that are deemed to have higher risks of war and labor strife. The only other nation in Southeast Asia on the list is Cambodia. Shipping companies must pay insurance surcharges to call at countries on the list.

Disturbances upsetting

"More than these (surcharges), it's the civil disturbances that are most troubling," says a European shipping executive who ships petroleum products out of Indonesia. Another commodities dealer in Indonesia agrees: "This is the worst situation we've seen in some time."

Even now, with a heavy contingent of troops around Belawan to ensure order at the port, business has slowed significantly in the wake of the riots, says shipping operator W.U. Sirait, standing at the wharf. Among the main reasons, he and other business people say, is the flight of ethnic Chinese.

As elsewhere in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, ethnic conflict is nothing new in Medan. The city was the scene of a big riot – stemming from a labor dispute – in 1994. However, in most earlier conflicts, tempers generally abated in weeks or months, people here say, with life returning to normal.

Bigger economic problems

This time, however, fears are exacerbated by the deterioration of the Indonesian economy and growing frustration with the government – with no end in sight to either problem. That means economic hardship could continue to fuel unrest, and resentment against society's perceived "haves." Many ethnic Chinese have fled by air to Singapore, Jakarta and Australia, or by sea across the straits to Malaysia. Those who have remained are staying in hotels – and some even in police headquarters. Few people harbor much hope of business returning to normal until the Chinese return.

At Belawan's ferry terminal, ethnic-Chinese families lined up this weekend for boats to the Malaysian island of Penang. One businessman embarking with his family, exhausted from four days and nights guarding his property during the riots, says he hopes to return in two weeks, but is waiting to get a reading of the situation. "Hopefully things will be fine by that time," he says.

For the indigenous Indonesians, finding food and other basic goods in Medan has grown difficult as many merchants flee. Susanto, who owns a small store, says he has eaten nothing but dried, instant noodles for the past four days, because fresh food has disappeared from the city's deserted markets. A taxi driver complains he can't drive his normal cab, because the Chinese auto-parts supplier who normally sells a part he needs has gone. Business May Worsen

"Without the Chinese around, business has just shut down," says the shipping executive, Mr. Sirait. "The stores are all empty." Sofyan Tan, an ethnic-Chinese educator who runs a foundation in Medan geared toward bridging the city's ethnic divide, says the gulf is becoming unbridgable. "This time, a lot of people in the area have lost their jobs, while prices have gone up sharply," he says. "The Chinese know this, and they won't come back while they think the situation is still explosive. And if they're not back, business will get worse."

For many pribumis, or indigenous Indonesians, the damage done by the riots is significant. Yet, some express satisfaction at having vented their anger. Striking out violently, some say, is the only way to get through to the government.

"Rioting is good; it lets the world know that we don't want to be pushed down forever," says Parlutan Hutapea, a messenger. "It's not like we're stupid, and we don't know the law. We know the law, but there's no place for us to go if we want to have our rights respected."