Just donates the assets

Just donates the assets

John Keynes, one of the most influential gurus of modern macro
economics, once steadfastly opposed the desire of the United
States, Britain and France to demand war reparation from Germany,
which was defeated in World War II. In his opinion, burdening
Germany with war reparation would only make the country poorer,
leading eventually to the collapse of the European economy as a
whole.

In a similar context to the above, the Indonesian government
is thinking of "taking back" the assets of the Republic of
Indonesia in East Timor. The wish to "take back" Indonesia's
assets in East Timor should be considered carefully and
comprehensively. The emotional reaction shown by some members of
the House of Representatives toward East Timor Foreign Minister
Ramos Horta's rejection of the reclaiming of these assets only
serves to show that the political elite in the House do not yet
have a full understanding of the national, regional and
international political configuration.

There are several reasons why Indonesia must have this
understanding. First, East Timor as a newly independent state
needs a lot of help. As Indonesia is not, at present, in a
position to give direct donations, the most realistic thing that
Indonesia can do is to donate its assets in East Timor. Second,
if East Timor is not assisted by Indonesia, it will certainly
look to Australia. Increased dependence of East Timor on
Australia will only create a greater gap between Indonesia and
East Timor in the long run, a condition which is geopolitically
and regionally disadvantageous to Indonesia. Third, an
economically poor East Timor state will only trouble Indonesia in
the future. Increased unemployment, limited employment
opportunities and increased crime rates in East Timor will only
create tension in the border area of the two countries because
some East Timorese will enter Indonesia to seek "economic
asylum."

EFENDI SIMANJUNTAK

Jakarta