Fighting Australia's exploitative relationship with Asia

December 12, 2001
Issue 

BY IGGY KIM

Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor, ASIET, has changed its name to Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific, ASAP.

ASIET was at the forefront of the campaigns in support of the East Timorese independence struggles throughout the 1990s. It was also the only campaigning organisation in Australia supporting the anti-dictatorship struggle in Indonesia.

"The change of name to Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific reflects the desire of ASIET activists to expand the scope of our solidarity work to a wider range progressive movements in the Asia-Pacific region", ASIET/ASAP national chairperson Max Lane told Green Left Weekly, adding that, "Some local ASIET groups which have an especially close link with Indonesia or East Timor, will retain the ASIET name but affiliate to ASAP."

Indonesia and East Timor "will remain central priorities for ASAP", said Lane. "The situation is increasingly explosive in Aceh and West Papua, and also in Maluku and Sulawesi. The economy is on the verge collapse under the attacks from the IMF and World Bank. The UN administration in East Timor and the emerging East Timorese elite is in the process of surrendering the East Timorese economy to the IMF and World Bank.

"But at the same time, we cannot ignore the fact that the whole region is being pushed deeper into crisis by both the neo-liberal corporate offensive against the region's economies as well as the escalation of US military interference.

"The social justice movements in countries like Pakistan, the Philippines, Malaysia, South Korea and Burma, for example, are all under attack and are involved in intensified struggle."

According to Lane, the Australian government is lining up almost everywhere with the forces of repression. "Just as the number of people being killed and tortured by Megawati Sukarnoputri's military in Aceh is increasing, Alexander Downer has announced moves to resume military ties with Jakarta."

ASAP is co-sponsoring, with Green Left Weekly, the screenings of John Pilger's new film, The New Rulers of the World, in Sydney and Melbourne on December 14-16 and is helping organise the Second Asia Pacific International Solidarity Conference in Sydney over next year's Easter weekend.

"There has often been discussion of the political implications of a 'European' Australia being located in Asia", said Lane. "Most of this discussion has been concerned with inward-looking searches for some meaningless Australian identity.

"The real issue is how the Australian people can develop good neighbourly relations with the peoples of the region while the Australian government and big business is only interested in dominating, bullying and exploiting the peoples of the region.

"The real challenge of Australia-Asia relations is one of fighting the First World/Third World exploitative relationship that Australia has with its Asian neighbours. This means solidarity with the progressive people's movements in the region."

Lane also said that ASAP could not remain silent on the issue of refugees. "The demonising of refugees is meant to stop people questioning what lies behind so many Third World peoples' desperation. There are hundreds of millions of people in Asia being pushed into unbearable social and economic conditions."

ASAP is supporting the call for a royal commission into the government policy toward refugees. It has also called on the Australian government to offer assisted passage to all the refugees currently in Indonesia seeking to come to Australia.

"Assisted passage was OK for British and European immigrants in earlier decades, it should be OK for these people as well. Australia is prosperous enough to easily help these people. We would be acting in a proper humanitarian manner as well as easing the burden on Indonesian society, our neighbours."

From Green Left Weekly, December 12, 2001.
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