RI can maintain ethnic unity: China

RI can maintain ethnic unity: China

BEIJING (Reuters): China said on Thursday it believed Indonesia could keep ethnic unity and deal with its economic crisis which has led to anti-Chinese riots.

"The Indonesian government is working hard to rebuild its economy, and we believe the Indonesian government can control the situation, keep social stability and ethnic unity," foreign ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao told a regular news briefing.

He was asked whether the Chinese government had contacted the Indonesian government over increasing violence towards ethnic Chinese, a traditional target during times of hardship.

Indonesia, with 200 million people, is suffering its worst economic crisis in decades, with the collapse of the rupiah currency and serious drought causing prices and unemployment to shoot up.

Ethnic Chinese, who control most of the country's commerce, have borne the brunt of riots as the poor blame them for rising prices.

Asked whether China would accept refugees from the Southeast Asian country, Zhu reiterated China's faith in the Indonesian government in dealing with its economic problems.

Zhu said: "The economies of ethnic Chinese and Indonesia are increasingly integrated. We believe that the economic difficulties faced by Indonesia are temporary."

Thousands of people stoned dozens of shops and offices on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi in the latest outbreak of unrest over rising prices, media reports said on Thursday.

China has remained relatively shielded from the regional economic turmoil, which has crippled the economies of Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea.