AAS far bigger than 1955 Conference<\/p>\n
Veeramalla Anjaiah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Today is Monday, April 18, 2005. At exactly 9 a.m., 50 years ago,
\nthe leaders from the 29 Asian and African countries gathered in
\nBandung to promote goodwill and cooperation among themselves and
\npromote world peace.<\/p>\n
The stories surrounding that first Bandung Conference were
\ncirculated among Asian and African people for decades. Indonesia,
\nas the host, faced many difficulties in organizing this
\nhistorical conference. Yet, the young Republic of Indonesia
\nproved to the world that it had all the qualities to become a
\nleader of Third World countries.<\/p>\n
In his book The Bandung Connection, Roeslan Abdulgani, the
\nsecretary-general of the organizing committee of the 1955
\nconference, explained how he and other colleagues cleaned the wet
\nfloor and chairs at the venue by themselves during the lunch
\nbreak (1 p.m. to 3 p.m.) after a roof leakage caused by heavy
\nrain on the first day.<\/p>\n
\"We closed the doors tightly so no delegates could see us
\ncleaning up. We managed to clean the mess by drying the chairs
\nand floor. By 2:45 p.m., it looked clean and dry. We breathed a
\nbig sigh of relief,\" Roeslan said.<\/p>\n
Though the Asia-Africa Conference (AAC) was jointly sponsored
\nby Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and Burma
\n(now Myanmar), the original idea came from Indonesia at a meeting
\nof the prime ministers of those five countries in Colombo in
\nApril 1954.<\/p>\n
In a later meeting in Bogor in December 1954, the five
\ncountries agreed to invite 25 countries after a
\nlong debate over China's participation in place of Taiwan to the
\nplanned meeting.<\/p>\n
Of the 25 original invitees, only the Central African
\nFederation could not attend.<\/p>\n
Though it was called a gathering of Asian and African
\ncountries, only six countries -- Egypt, Ethiopia, Gold Coast (now
\nGhana), Liberia, Libya and Sudan -- from the African continent
\nand 23 Asian countries, including the five sponsors, participated
\nin Bandung Conference.<\/p>\n
South and North Korea, Mongolia and Israel were not invited
\nthough they were independent states. Countries like Sudan and the
\nGold Coast were not fully independent but attended the meeting.<\/p>\n
Surprisingly, South Africa -- the cosponsor of this week's
\nAsian-African Summit (AAS) in Jakarta -- was not invited to
\nBandung in 1955 because it was still under the rule of the
\napartheid regime.<\/p>\n
Since the 1955 Bandung Conference, scores of new countries
\nemerged in both continents. South Vietnam and North Vietnam were
\nunited into one country. Bangladesh later separated from Pakistan
\nand East Timor which, at the time was a Portuguese colony, is now
\nan independent country. The Central African Federation split into
\nZimbabwe and Zambia.<\/p>\n
By any calculation, the AAS is far bigger than the AAC.
\nA total of 52 countries from Africa and 54 from Asia are going to
\ntake part in the AAS in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
What has not changed in 50 years is that the Palestinian
\npeople are still suffering and the majority of the countries'
\npolicies toward Israel and Taiwan remain relatively unchanged.
\nInterestingly, the Palestinian issue was discussed at the Bandung
\nConference and is also on the agenda this time around.<\/p>\n
In terms of logistics and media coverage, there is a huge
\ndifference in 2005 compared to 1955.<\/p>\n
The Bandung Conference was attended by 1,500 delegates and
\ncovered by around 500 journalists, including 214 foreign
\njournalists. But there was no television in this part of the
\nworld at that time.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs director of information and
\nmedia Lutfi Rauf said more than 1,300 journalists, including 634
\nforeign journalists, have already registered to cover the AAS.<\/p>",
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