Why is Irian Jaya such a hot issue, and are there parallels to be drawn with East Timor? Indonesia analyst Dr John Taylor of South Bank University, London, discusses its prospects for independence in a BBC programme, The World Today, last Friday
Dr Taylor: If you go a long way back, if you go before Indonesia became independent, there was always a notion among West Papuan people that they would have some sort of independence. I mean, the Dutch always promised them that and they thought that was going to happen. I think that after Indonesia became independent and they found that they were territorially part of Indonesia, I think that was a tremendous shock to them.
So, they fought to try and change it, but they didn't make it and so, there's been this feeling for a long time that they should have been independent.
Q: Can you take us through the events of what happened because the bulk of Indonesia became independent at the end of the 1940s, but Papua didn't, did it?
A: Well, what happened after 1949 was that Sukarno insisted that Irian Jaya should be part of Indonesia and a long tussle went on between the United States, the Dutch Government and the Indonesians as to what should happen and in 1962, an agreement was signed whereby there would be an act of free choice in 1969 and between 1962 and 1969, it was occupied by a UN force for a little while, but most of the time by the Indonesian Army.
So, the concession to the Papuans was that they would have this act of free choice, but the concession to the Indonesians was that it would be done after, effectively, a nine-year period of Indonesian control.
Q: During which time, effectively, it became Indonesianised?
A: It became Indonesianised and at one stage, indeed, Sukarno, who was President before Suharto came to power in 1965-66, wanted to get rid of this act of free choice, but when Suharto came to power, to try and improve his international image after all the killings that occurred in the coup, said that there should be an act of free choice.
So, this act of free choice took place in 1969 and the overwhelming majority of the population voted to remain within Indonesia. But, of course, as we now know by many people who were there, who reported on it, it was a really shambolic thing.
Q: It wasn't a free choice?
A: It wasn't an act of free choice. People were just consulted through tribal leaders and the tribal leaders delivered the vote.
Q: But it's not as clear-cut obviously as the East timor situation in terms of it not being a part of Indonesia?
A: No because Indonesia has a territorial claim on Irian Jaya because from 1949 onwards, it was part of the Indonesian Republic, as we know. In 1975, Indonesia invaded East Timor, which was a territory which was Portuguese, which was going through a transition, was going through a process of decolonisation.
They're entirely different and so, the problem for Indonesia is if most of the people who attended the conference that we're looking at were in favour of independence, then really, we have a similar situation to the one in Aceh. And it's very difficult for the Wahid Government to know what to do.