Indonesia and U.S.
Indonesia and U.S.
In the aftermath of World War II, the United States actively
supported Indonesia's independence movement, and in December 1949
the United States was one of the first countries to recognize the
new Republic of Indonesia. Last month the United States and
Indonesia completed a year-long celebration of the 50th
anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations, with important
high-level visits, retrospective conferences and seminars and
cultural presentations in both Jakarta and Washington.
We Americans are proud of our country's close relationship
with the people and the nation of Indonesia, and we look forward
to continued cooperation in pursuit of our mutual interest. Like
any two partners, we have not always agreed on all things, but
our bilateral links have grown on many levels and have benefited
both of our countries over five decades. The United States, for
example, buys more exports from Indonesia than any other nation
and our investments in Indonesia exceed those of any other
country.
We were therefore appalled to see the false and misleading
accusations by Frank Richardson (The Jakarta Post, Jan. 13 - Jan.
14: The U.S.: A party to mass murder?). The writer has presented
his own warped conspiracy theory, curiously reminiscent of Cold
War disinformation, as if it were fact. Sophisticated readers
will quickly recognize this material as an inaccurate, distorted
attempt to discredit the United States, but we are concerned that
some readers might actually believe this hysterical attack.
We encourage those interested in Indonesian-American relations
to study scholarly materials by serious Indonesian and American
scholars and to form their own opinions based on balanced,
objective analysis. Anyone who does this will inevitably conclude
that the United States has been a reliable friend to Indonesia in
the past and can be depended upon in the future to support
political and economic reforms now underway to address unresolved
issues.
KARL FRITZ
Press Attache
U.S. Embassy, Jakarta