Gus Dur meets Chinese party delegates

Gus Dur meets Chinese party delegates

JAKARTA (JP): In an event which would have been almost
unthinkable just a few years ago, President Abdurrahman Wahid met
on Wednesday with visiting delegates from the Chinese Communist
Party.

Speaking through an interpreter after the meeting at the
Presidential Palace, head of the eight-member delegation Dai
Bingguo said the visit was in response to an invitation by PKB
leaders.

"The objective of our visit is to get acquainted with our
Indonesian friends," Bingguo, who is chairman of the Chinese
Communist Party's Central Committee for International Affairs,
told reporters.

"We want to understand changes that have taken place here in
Indonesia," he added.

Bingguo further said that his party supported Indonesia's
territorial integrity and that the country's political and
economic stability were crucial to stability in the region.

He said that the Chinese Communist Party would never interfere
in Indonesia's internal affairs.

The visit and meeting were another sign of the changing times.

The visit was also aimed at forging a closer relationship
between the Chinese Communist Party and the National Awakening
Party (PKB) which Abdurrahman founded.

During the New Order era under former president Soeharto, the
government adopted an extreme distaste for anything even remotely
connected to communism, particularly those affiliated with the
Chinese Communist Party.

Relations between Jakarta and Beijing were frozen in 1968
following allegations that China had supported the abortive coup
by the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in September 1965, which
China denied.

Only some 20 years later were diplomatic ties normalized.

But the era of reform has ushered in a new objectivity with no
less than the President himself suggesting that a past decree
outlawing Communism be revoked.

Abdurrahman also made China the destination for his first
official state visit.

An official within the Chinese Communist Party delegation said
that the delegation would stay for about five days. A two-day
visit to the resort island Bali is on their itinerary. (byg/prb)