ABSTRACT
East Timor was part of Indonesia’s huge archipelago made up of more than 13,000 islands, with a population of now over 220 million, the majority being Muslim (87%), making Indonesia the world’s largest Muslim state. There are also Christians (10%), Hindus and Buddhists. Ethnic groups comprise Javanese (45%), Sundanese (14%), Malay (8%), Chinese (8%) and others. East Timor (now the independent nation officially known as Timor-Leste) is mainly Christian, with a population of just one million. Portuguese imperialists were the first to reach Indonesia, but they were soon overwhelmed by the Dutch and British. The Dutch colonization of the archipelago began with the formation of the Dutch East India Company in 1602. During the 19th century the British established themselves in the Malay peninsula and North Borneo, although the Dutch kept colonizing Indonesia. The Dutch had though ceded the eastern part of Timor to the Portuguese in 1859. Indonesia, a major producer of petroleum in South-East Asia, had supplied nearly 30% of Japan’s oil requirements during the Second World War. Japan occupied Indonesia during the war, but when it surrendered Indonesia went ahead and declared independence under the leadership of Dr Sukarno. The Dutch resisted Indonesia’s independence, but by 1950 only West New Guinea (Irian Jaya) remained under Dutch control, and East Timor under the Portuguese. The Islamic regime suppressed Christian and other minorities and claimed East Timor when the dictatorship in Portugal was overthrown in 1975. The East Timorese, who preferred Portuguese to Indonesian rule, eventually opted for independence, which Portugal was keen to concede. Outside great powers stood idly by when Indonesia annexed East Timor by force in 1976. In fact, Australia assisted Jakarta in suppressing the East Timorese. East Timor’s campaign for independence gained momentum when Jose´ Ramos Horta won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996. Talks between Portugal and Indonesia, and violence between Indonesian troops and East Timorese rebels, continued, with Indonesia finally conceding the right of East Timorese to self-determination in 1999. Finally, in a referendum held in August 1999, some 78% of East Timorese voted for independence. Indonesian forces began then to withdraw under UN supervision and East Timor won its full independence in May 2002. Given broader tensions in the archipelago, Australia’s neo-imperial involvement in the region, as
well as China and America’s business interests in the greater South Asia and Pacific region, violent conflicts in Indonesia always remain a possibility. For example, as recently as May 2006 Australia, with the backing of the UN and the USA, intervened militarily in Timor-Leste, proclaiming the ‘restoration of order and the reshaping of the Constitution’. Australia’s intervention has, however, more to do with obtaining control of oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea and establishing a strong security presence in the region, acting as America’s reliable strategic partner in this vital part of the world.
