Word: indonesia
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Which came first, free markets or free people? Judging by his new trade agreement with Indonesia, President Clinton has decided on the former. In China and now across southeast Asia, Clinton has unforgivably abandoned this nation's tradition of making civil rights a first priority...
Clinton's move to open trade with Indonesia has made a mockery of the techniques of economic diplomacy. Since World War II, nations with strong economies have effectively used trade sanctions to combat apartheid in South Africa, totalitarianism in Nicaragua, genocide in Bosnia and Communism in Cuba...
...instance, opening trade with Indonesia will hardly help the plight of residents of East Timor who face constant discrimination in Indonesian labor markets and civil society. Why should a glut of dollars in the pockets of a nation's wealthy change their attitudes about minorities, or anything else except their opinion of the U.S.? Most of the profits from trade will go to those few Indonesians already in positions of power. President Clinton has repeatedly bashed trickle-down economics in this country, but now he's decided to try it in Indonesia...
...anything, free trade with Indonesia will cement the position of the current government. Back when Communist annexation posed an ever present threat to friendly regimes, coddling a tyrant or two was acceptable and expected. But now, Indonesia--disregarding its role as a strategic center in the South China Sea--stands to gain by the creation of a new government...
President Clinton, who weatheredbarbs at home for ignoring human rightsas he cemented this week's Asian-Pacific trade deal, wrapped up his trip to Indonesia with a small about-face. His target wasn't China, but the host country, where 29 East Timorese students continued a sit-in on the grounds of the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta to protest Indonesian occupation of their nearby homeland. "We cannot turn away from that cause and we will not," Clinton declared, after Indonesian President Suharto agreed not to harass the students after the U.S. contingent left. (Suharto, not known for his bleeding heart...