[asia-apec 72] boycott Kia Motors

[George J. Aditjondro by way of daga <daga at hk.super.net>]

OPEN LETTER TO THE SUPPORTERS OF THE INDONESIAN
PRO-DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT IN THE ASIA AND PACIFIC:
BOYCOTT THE NEPOTISTIC SPECIAL DEAL BETWEEN KIA MOTORS
(SOUTH KOREA) AND TOMMY SUHARTO (INDONESIA)!
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        DEAR SISTERS AND BROTHERS,
        FRIENDS OF THE PRO-DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT IN INDONESIA

        Through our internet channels I have heard that tomorrow, Thursday,
29 August 1996, the Asian Students Association (ASA) and other Hong
Kong-based non-governmental organisations are going to mount protests at
the Indonesian and South Korean consulates in Hong Kong, in solidarity with
the pro-democracy movement in Indonesia.

        As one of the victims of the democratization struggle in Indonesia,
having to live in self-imposed exile in Australia, I salute you for your
solidarity statements. I also salute the South Korean pro-democracy
activists, whom through their own struggle have been able to take two of
their former presidents -- Chun Doo Hwan and Roh Dae Woo -- to court, for
their involvement in the 1980 Kwangju massacre and in accepting more than
US$ 1 billion 'slash funds' from large Korean trading companies (chaebol).

        On this precious occasion I like to point out the irony, that while
in South Korea,  two former presidents-cum-retired generals can be taken to
court, and even sentenced to death and 22 years sentences for corruption
and collusion with chaebols.  In Indonesia, South Korea's second largest
car company, Kia Motors, has been allowed to export 45,000 units of Kia
sedans to Indonesia , without having to pay import duties and other taxes.
This means  a US$ 1 billion tax break for Kia Motors' joint venture with
President Suharto's youngest son, Hutomo Mandala Putra, aka Tommy Suharto.

        With this special deal, Kia Motors hopes that it may be able to
reach 60 percent local content in its still-to-be-built assembly plant in
Indonesia, which may become a foothold to export their Mentor sedans to
other countries in this region, including Australia.

        Ironically, while two former presidents and several chaebol have to
go to jail for exchanging one billion US dollars of "slash funds",
pro-democracy activists have recently been detained in Indonesia and are
now facing the threat of death sentences under the Indonesian
anti-subversion law, simply for criticising similar type of human rights
violations as the 1980 Kwangju massacre, and similar type of corruption and
collusion between bureaucrats and capitalists, including the one billion US
dollars tax break to dump those South Korean cars in Indonesia and thereby
seizing a strategic foothold into the lucrative Australian market.

        It is ironically, too, that the way that the Suharto regime has
justified this special deal between Kia Motors and Tommy Suharto by
labeling these Kia Mentor cars  "Mobil Nasional", or "national cars". Since
when have Koreans and Indonesians signed this " double nationality
arrangement ", that Korean cars which are completly made in Korea are
called "national cars" in Indonesia?

        Another more bitter irony is that those Korean cars which are going
to be imported by Tommy Suharto, are given the name "Timor" by his father,
President Suharto. TIMOR is also the name of the "made in Indonesia" Kia
Mentor sedans, which may be exported to Australia. Since when has Korea,
which has fought heroically from 1910 to 1945  to liberate itself from
Japanese colonialism, joined the rank of new colonial countries, by
supporting Indonesia's colonization of East Timor? Because,  the implicit
message of naming this "national car", TIMOR, is to assume that the entire
island is part of Indonesia, isn't it?

         In conclusion I have to say that the special deal between Kia
Motors and Tommy Suharto, is an insult to the Indonesian, East Timorese,
and South Korean peoples. It is an insult to the Indonesian people, because
this special deal deprives the Indonesian national coffers from the much
needed import duty for this luxurious car, without the approval of the
Indonesian parliament, which violates Article 13 of the Indonesian 1945
constitution. It is also an insult to the Indonesian people, who are
Indonesian and not South Korean citizens, since these completely built up
(CBU) imported Korean cars are called "national cars" (mobil nasional).
Whose "national car", South Korean, or Indonesian?

        This special deal between Kia Motors and Tommy Suharto is an
insult to the East Timorese people, since by their more than 20 years
independence struggle have proven that they do not want to become
Indonesians, a struggle recognized and justified by international law as
well as Indonesia's own 1945 constitition, betrayed by Suharto and his
generals since the invasion of East Timor 21 years ago.

        It is also an insult to the East Timorese people, that the
suffering of a third of their people who have died since the Indonesian
invasion, is used to benefit the Suharto family, as the business partners
of Kia Motors, whose cars can now drive into the Indonesian market as the
cheapest luxury car available.

        This special deal is also an insult to the South Korean people, who
have successfully fought against high level corruption and
business-politics collusion by taking two former presidents/generals to
court, where they received the death and 22 years sentences. Ironically,
while this happens, the second largest South Korean car manufacturer has
successsfully negotiated a lucrative deal with the son of the head of state
of a friendly country,  similar to the special relationship between the
former South Korean presidents and the chaebols 'back home' -- for which
they were taken to court.

        Finally, it is a disgrace to all the three peoples, that for pure
profit motives, the First Family of Indonesia is turned into an economic
satelite of South Korean car manufacturers (Tommy's brother Bambang
Trihatmojo is already the sole distributor of Hyundai, and his eldest
sister, Tutut, is allegedly going to become Daewoo's sole distributor), by
manipulating the name of an island which is not "wholely owned" by
Indonesia, and thereby betraying the heroic independence struggles of the
Indonesian, Korean, and East Timorese peoples.

        Therefore, I sincerely support your protest rallies at the
Indonesian and South Korean consulates in Hong Kong and in all other Asian
and Pacific countries and territories. I also urge you to express your
feelings about  this deal directly to Kia Motors representatives in their
sales offices and show rooms all over this region.

        Thank you, may God bless all the independence and pro-democratic
struggles in the Asia-Pacific region.

George J. Aditjondro
Indonesian dissident in exile
Home phone/fax: (61-49) 677 053