Powell meets Indonesian students
Powell meets Indonesian students
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Twenty-three Indonesian students from various universities across
Jakarta packed a meeting room at the Mulia Hotel in Central
Jakarta on Friday, and waited anxiously for a rare chance to hurl
questions at U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
After he entered the room, many of the students appeared
nervous before he broke the ice and fielded a barrage of
questions from the young men and women he referred to as the
"future leaders of Indonesia".
"Don't look scared ... just laugh a little bit," he quipped
during his introduction.
Most of the questions during the dialog, which was recorded by
private television channel RCTI, touched on issues of U.S. policy
and its influence on Muslims or Indonesia's relations with the
superpower. There were also questions on America's refusal to
ratify the Kyoto Protocol and the latest developments on the
North Korean nuclear talks.
The first question came from a stiff-faced young man in the
front row, who wanted Powell to comment on the growing anti-
Americanism among Indonesians.
Powell replied that it was their right, in a democratic
society, to oppose the U.S.
"I sense that most Indonesians appreciate the relationship
between the U.S. and Indonesia. There are perhaps many
Indonesians who are not happy with the United States policy in
the world, and would like to demonstrate against United States
policy. That is the beginning of an open and free democratic
society."
"There is a lot of anti-Americanism in the world today because
people, I think, don't fully understand what we are trying to do
in Iraq or with respect to the Middle East peace process," said
Powell.
Another student asked him about the perceived U.S. "double
standard" toward Muslims. She said while Washington spent
millions of dollars to improve relations with the Muslim world,
it also imposed tough restrictions on people from Muslim
countries to visit and learn about the country.
Powell said his country welcomed all people regardless of
their background, especially if they would like to study and the
restrictive visa policies that were imposed after 9/11 would soon
be scaled back.
"We suffer when we don't have students like you wanting to
study in the United States, because we've made it too difficult.
"We suffer when Indonesians are reluctant to go to Disneyland
or to use our hospitals or just to go see the Grand Canyon or to
visit Washington D.C. as tourists. We suffer!" he asserted.
In his concluding remarks he encouraged the students to work
for democracy here.
"Keep working hard and remember, I'm going to be retired soon.
I'll be in a rocking chair watching you guys become the leaders
of Indonesia," Powell told the smiling students in a fatherly
tone.
However, Lavina Fathoni, 20, a student from the University of
Indonesia, was not very impressed. She said there was "nothing
new" in Powell's answers to the questions.