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Gus Dur calls for alliance of Asian countries

Source
Straits Times - April 18, 2000

Hongkong – President Abdurrahman Wahid said Indonesia, China and India should go forward together with the help of Japanese and Singaporean "capital, know-how and technology" to create a mutually beneficial loose association.

He made the call at a dinner on Sunday hosted by the non- governmental Asia Society in Hongkong, where he asked investors and Asian neighbours to help his country become an economic powerhouse.

"If these countries can regroup into one single but loose entity then the businessmen of the ... five countries will be able to stand up to anybody in the world," he said. "Asia has emerged as a world economic power especially in commerce because of rich abundance of natural resources, and the industriousness of the people will ensure that we are able to utilise these forces in full."

He also urged businessmen and governments worldwide to invest in the economic recovery of Indonesia, which he said was stable and secure despite recent outbreaks of ethnic and religious violence. "Indonesia is secure, stable, and stability is there," he told the gathering of investment bankers and business executives. "Please invest in Indonesia," he said in a largely improvised speech at the US$385 a plate gala dinner.

While Mr Abdurrahman has been away on an overseas trip, a group of radical Indonesian Muslims has pledged to send thousands of fighters to lead a holy war against Christians in the Malukus, or spice islands. Last week, hundreds of students protested and clashed with police in Jakarta to demand the jailing of ailing former President Suharto, who has been banned from leaving the capital.

Despite reports of religious and political tensions at home, Mr Abdurrahman insisted that territorial integrity of the sprawling archipelago had been achieved, and blamed the media for sensationalism. "Regardless of what you see on television everyday or read in the newspapers, don't believe all of it, because it is useful for the press to give priority to the blackened picture," he said. He added that he had followed a successful policy of accommodation and negotiation with separatist Aceh rebels.

He said he also had assurances that Muslims and Christians were co-operating over humanitarian efforts in the Malukus, which were racked by a major wave of religious bloodshed around the New Year. As for the controversy over investigations into allegations of corruption by 78-year-old ousted Mr Suharto, he said they were moving slowly because of "respect for former leaders".

During the dinner, Wahid also rebuffed his critics, including People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais, and warned of a backlash against his political foes if they failed to back up their criticism.

"If we have strong reasons for our policies and the MPR finally decides to follow us, I'm afraid that in the end, Mr Amien is the one who will end up pinching his own ears," Mr Abdurrahman told journalists in the presidential entourage.

He was responding to a question about Mr Amien's earlier statement that he would not hesitate "to pinch" the President's ears should the government veer off track in its policies. "Sometimes those people just don't understand. They say that I am careless, but they're actually the ones who make reckless statements," Mr Abdurrahman said.

He has maintained that the Assembly session in August is only meant to deliver a progress report on the government's work, not to serve as a special session to demand the President's accountability. "People just talk, but they don't know what they're talking about and this makes me confused," he said.

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