Trust needed to end anti-Chinese violence

Trust needed to end anti-Chinese violence

Ethnic Chinese have continued to be targeted in riots in
several towns in Indonesia and Juwono Sudarsono, chairman of the
Agency for the Communication of Comprehension of National Unity,
who is also vice governor of the military's National Resilience
Institute (Lemhannas) think tank, discusses possible ways to end
such violence.

Question: Local residents in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara, and
other towns in Java and Sulawesi rioted recently in protest at
rises in the price of essential commodities, but why did shops
owned by the ethnic Chinese become the target of their vandalism?

Juwono: As chairman of the Agency for the Communication of
Comprehension of National Unity I feel very concerned because
this type of victimization has occurred for many generations.
When a Chinese trader is hoarding a commodity, for example,
people tend to assume that all traders of Chinese descent are
doing likewise and the Chinese therefore become the target of
violence in a riot. In actual fact, the main reason for the price
rises is poor distribution of the goods.

Ethnic Chinese often become targets of mass violence because
they are weak and have no political power or representation.
Unfortunately, there is no indigenous party who helps defend the
rights of the Chinese minority. They are also targeted because
the civic leadership of indigenous Indonesian organizations have
failed to control their own members.

Q: How do you see such violence in terms of human rights?

J: There is an evidence that the most worst violations of human
rights in Indonesia are arbitrary and unilateral actions carried
out by members of society against each other, and not by the
police, military or government. Civil rights are often violated
during a times of hardship and ethnic Chinese generally become
the victims.

Q: Do you think that scapegoating the ethnic Chinese has been
engineered by a certain party to divert attention from the
government's failure to overcome the current economic crisis?

J: It is not true. It is also dangerous and against the
principles of our constitution. When we proclaimed independence
in 1945, there were Chinese-Indonesians who were involved in
formulating the Constitution (of 1945). The Chinese-Indonesians
are committed to Indonesia as a nation state.

Q: Do you think that the fate of the ethnic Chinese can be
improved if they are represented in the cabinet or in the House
of Representatives?

J: Such representation does not guarantee that violence against
the ethnic Chinese will end. The situation is very sensitive and
no civic leadership, particularly in social and mass
organizations, can fully control their members.

Q: Has the failure of civic leaders in stopping this violence
been exacerbated by the lethargy of the state leaders in
protecting the rights of minorities?

J: Yes. They are too busy with speeches and have no time for
organizational consolidation at the grassroots level, which
should receive a high priority. If you are a leader of an
organization, you must be able to control your members.

Q: Some Chinese businesspeople, who now feel very insecure, have
transferred large sums of their capital abroad. Who is in the
wrong here?

J: It is a chicken and egg situation. Capital does not recognize
state borders and they consider it necessary to move their
savings abroad because they feel insecure.

Our task is now to redevelop a sense of well being and
security within our country, so that all citizens can become
stakeholders in the Indonesian society. If we can do that, then I
am sure capital will return to Indonesia.

The indigenous majority and Chinese minority are mutually
dependent. The majority cannot expel the Chinese minority because
the minority, who are also Indonesian citizens, are strong. If
the minority were expelled, the first to suffer would be the
majority, the indigenous Indonesians.

Q: What measures should be taken to make the indigenous-
non-indigenous assimilation program successful?

J: I think we can establish a really solid form of Indonesian
citizenship through inter-marriage and integration in
professional groups in a society based on merit and capability.

Government policy to protect the rights of citizens of Chinese
descent would also help. Citizens of Chinese descent now face
difficulties when they process citizenship documents. They are
required to fill in a special form and sometimes must pay illegal
fees. The bureaucracy must treat all Indonesians, including the
Chinese, as citizens of Indonesia, irrespective of race,
ethnicity, religion, color of skin, shape of eye and provincial
identity.

Q: Do you see that the ethnic Chinese will continue to become
targets of violence in the future?

J: In some cases it will be inevitable, simply because they are
too far from the protection of the authorities. But I am sure
such cases will be infrequent and that there will be no large
scale violence. I still believe in the tolerance of the vast
majority of Indonesians. (riz)