[asia-apec 209] Re: Lippo-Clinton connections

[George J. Aditjondro]

Dear Robert;

As one of the persons on the list of 100 persons black list to enter the
Philippines, I thank you for organizing the protest in front of the Phil
embassy, yesterday. When are you doing something in front of the Indonesian
and Burmese embassies?

Multinational Monitor might be interested in my following study of the
Lippo Group, which has been bribing the Clinton administration all the way
along to protect the interests of the Suharto oligarchy. Please tell me if
you feel it fit to run in your magazine, which interviewed me years ago
about US MNC operating in Indonesia/West Papua (mainly Waeyerhouser and
Freeport at that time (1981)).

You are also free to disseminate this paper to all the other NGOs and
activists and your media friends in the US, especially those who have taken
part in actions on behalf of East Timor and the Indonesian and Burmese
pro-democracy movements. I will also email you later my study of the
Suharto family's business connections with the SLORC in Burma.

PS: please send my regards also to Ralph Nader. I wished that  he could
become the President of the USA, and clean up all this international
corruption mess.

Yours sincerely,


George

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------

press release:

                                Mochtar Riady? Yes! Mochtar Pakpahan? No!
                                Background to the Lippo-Clinton-Suharto
connections

Introduction:
        In the wake of the media reports in the USA, on the controversial
issue of donations by managers and staff persons of an Indonesian
conglomerate, the Lippo Group, to President Clinton's re-election campaign,
Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas has categorically stated, that "the
Indonesian government has nothing to do with that donation" (The Australian
, Oct 23, 1996; and similar reports in Bisnis Indonesia   and Kompas ).
        After carrying thorough library research in my data base of
Indonesian business journals and other material on the Indonesian
oligarchy, it can be safely stated that Mr. Alatas statement is, as usual,
far from the truth. The Riady family who control the Lippo Group as well as
the Mayapada Group, and have still shares in the Salim Group's Bank Central
Asia, have numerous business connections with the Suharto family and the
family of one of Suharto's daughter's in-laws, namely the Djojohadikusumo
family. Since these two families possess tremendous political and economic
power, as well as intellectual prestige in the Indonesian political arena,
it can not be said that the Indonesian government has nothing to do with
the Lippo donations for the Clinton presidential campaign.
        I will back up this statement with the following sections in this
paper. First, the business links between the Suharto and Djojohadikusumo
families with the Lippo Group. Second, Mochtar Riady's first attempt to
enter the US financial market, which preceded the forging of friendship
with now US President Bill Clinton. Third, the Riady family's close
business links with the children of their business partner. Fourth,
lobbying the GSP debate.

                        The Lippo Group's business links with the Suharto family

The following is a list of joint ventures of the Lippo Group with President
Suharto's extended family, including the family of one of the Suharto
children's in-laws, namely the Djojohadikusumo family, and the family of
Suharto's closest crony, Liem Sioe Liong, of the Salim Group. This list may
not be exhaustive, yet, and still need to be updated.

Bank Central Asia (BCA):
This largest private bank in Indonesia, part of the Salim Group, the
largest conglomerate in Indonesia, which is controlled by Indonesia's
richest business tycoon, Liem Sioe Liong, who is also Suharto's closest
crony. BCA, however, owes its success to Mochtar Riady (Lee Mo Sing), who
was asked to join the bank in 1975 by Liem Sioe Liong, and obtained a 17.5%
share in BCA. Two other important shareholders in BCA are Siti Hardiyanti
Rukmana and Sigit Harjojudanto, Suharto's eldest daughter and son, who
jointly owned 30% of the bank's shares. Over time, Mochtar Riady's shares
were increased to 20%.
When Mochtar Riady left BCA in December 1990 to concentrate on his own
business empire, the Lippo Group, he sold 15% of his BCA shares and the BCA
management contract to Anthony Salim, Liem Sioe Liong's second son and
"crown prince." He kept 5%  shares in BCA, though, while the Suharto
siblings continue to own 16% BCA shares each. So, Mr. Riady and the Suharto
family have a long history of joint ownership in this bank. And when the
Liem Sioe Liong family and the Riady family began to concentrate on their
respective Salim and Lippo conglomerates, the business partnership between
the Lippo Bank and BCA still continued. James Riady, the Lippo "crown
prince", has transformed the New York branch of the Arkansas-based Worthern
Bank - which shares the Riady had bought in the 1980s -- into a BCA branch.

BCA itself, has set up a couple of joint ventures with other financial
institutions all over the world, such as the Chemical Bank and Jardine
Fleming in the USA and the Long Term Credit Bank of Japan (sources: Eddy
Soetriyono, n.d. Kisah Sukses Liem Sioe Liong. Jakarta: Indomedia, pp. 47,
63; Adam Schwarz and Jonathan Friedland, "Indonesia: Empire of the Son,"
Far Eastern Economic Review , March 14, 1991: 46-53; A Study of Top-300
National Private Business Groups in Indonesia, 1991-1992. Jakarta: PT CISI,
pp. 44-64;Info Bisnis , 1994 Special Edition, p. 99; Gatra , Febr. 4, 1995:
89).

PT Astra International:
After the take over of this holding company from the Soeryadjaja family in
early 1994, Mochtar Riady became a shareholder (0.21%), together with two
companies owned partly by members of the Suharto extended family, namely PT
Bogasari Flour Mills (4.54%) and the Sahid Group (0.04%). The Bogasari
flour mills is one of the main money-machines of the Salim Group, while the
Sahid Group is owned by the family of Sukamdani Sahid Gito Sarjono, a
brother of the late Mrs. Suharto (sources: Swasembada , January 1994: 31;
Indonesian Capital Market Directory 1994, p. 190).

Pantai Indah Kapuk [Beautiful Kapuk Beach]:
In this 1,200 Ha water front city near the Jakarta international airport,
which has caused a major environmental controversy since it caused the main
airport road to be flooded, Mochtar Riady is also a shareholder, together
with Sudwikatmono from the Salim Group. This controversial project was
managed by Ciputra's Jaya Group. However, as a group Lippo has not joined
any project directed by Ciputra, since they objected to sell any of their
shares to the real estate tycoon (sources: Detik , 30 March-5 April 1994:
19; Properti Indonesia , August 1994: 35, 41-42, 45).

PT Mandara Permai:
This real estate complex in Tangerang, east of Jakarta, is a joint venture
of the Lippo Group with the Salim Group, where the interests of the Suharto
clan is represented by Sudwikatmono, Suharto's cousin (sources: Info Bisnis
, May 1994: 12, July 1994: 6; Properti Indonesia , Oct. 1994: 23;
Soetriyono, n.d.: 116).

PT Lippo Life Insurance:
This fifth largest insurance company in Indonesia is a joint venture of the
Lippo Group with Sudwikatmono, Suharto's half-brother, who is also a major
shareholder in the Salim Group (sources: Info Bisnis , May 1994: 6, Special
Edition 1994: 97).

PT Marga Pusaka:
This insurance company, set up in 1984, is a fifty-fifty joint venture
between Lippo Indah Trading and Anthony Salim (source: Soetriyono, n.d.:
63, 117).

Bank Umum Asia:
The Riady family is also heavily involved in this bank, which is often been
listed under the Salim Group. Mochtar Riady and his two sons, Andrew Taufan
Riady and Stephen Tjondro Riady, jointly own nearly 50% of the bank's
shares, while Liem Sioe Liong and his two sons, Anthony Salim and Andre
Halim, also jointly own nearly 50% of the bank's shares (source:
Soetriyono, n.d.: 63).

PT Cikarang Listrindo:
This private electric power generating company is owned by Sudwikatmono and
other business partners, the first of its kind in Indonesia. With an
investment of US$ 137 million, in June 1994 it was already supplying 100 MW
of electricity to five industrial estates in Bekasi, east of Jakarta. One
of those industrial estates, PT Kawasan Industri Jakabeka, is also partly
owned by Sudiwkatmono. While three others -- PT Hyundai Bekasi Industrial
Estate, PT East Jakarta Industrial Estate, and PT Gunung Cermai Inti -- are
owned by PT Gunung Cermai Industrial Estate, in joint ventures with Hyundai
from South Korea and Mitsubishi from Japan. PT Gunung Cermai Industrial
Estate itself is 60% owned by the Lippo Group. Hence, Lippo had also its
interests in the regulation of privately generated electric power in
Indonesia, in addition to the need for electricity for its Lippo Village (=
Lippo Cikarang) newly built suburb near Sudwikatmono's power station
(sources: Swasembada , March 1992: 32; Warta Ekonomi , June 22, 1992: 25).


PT Royal Sentul Highlands:
This first class real estate and shopping centre, on 2,000 Ha of land, near
Tommy Suharto's US$ 3 million new car racing circuit in Sentul, Bogor,
south of Jakarta, is a joint venture of the Lippo Group through PT Gasentra
Businesspark (20%) with Bambang Trihatmojo (30%), Suharto's second son, and
other business partners (sources: Swasembada , August 1996: 40, 45;
Indonesian Business Weekly , Dec. 1994: 29).

Lippo City Sprint Rally:
In April 1993, before Tommy Suharto had finished his own the management of
Lippo City sponsored an auto rally, called the Lippo City Sprint Rally,
where several of Indonesia's main auto rallyists took part, among others
Tommy Suharto (source: Editor , April 24, 1993: 11).

Television tax monopoly:
All television owners in Indonesia are obliged to pay their television tax
to PT Mekatama Raya, a company owned by Suharto's eldest son, Sigit
Harjojudanto. This tax has to be paid to Lippo Bank, two other private
banks, or to a state bank (sources: Arena , No.1/Vol.  28, 1993: 14;
Prospek , March 7, 1972: 68).

Sahid Lippo International Hotel:
This four star hotel in the 2,000 Ha newly built Lippo City suburb in
Bekasi, south of Jakarta is a joint venture of the Lippo Group with
Sukamdani Sahid Gito Sardjono, a cousin of the late Mrs. Tien Suharto. It
was inaugurated in August 1994 (source: Info Bisnis , July 1994: 13-14,
19).

PT Sarana Jateng Ventura:
Twelve big firms and six big powerful business people established this Rp
15 billion (+ US$ 7.5 million) venture capital company in Semarang, Central
Java, in late 1994, to assist small-scale firms in the province. Among the
big firms are Lippo Bank, the kretek  (clove cigarette) producer PT Djarum,
and the large timber company, PT Barito Pacific. Suharto's youngest son,
Tommy, holds the monopoly over all clove trade in Indonesia, hence, he is
indirectly involved with PT Djarum. While two of Suharto's siblings,
Bambang Trihatmojo and Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana (Tutut) are business
partners of Prajogo Pangestu, the major shareholder in the Barito Pacific
Group (source: Indonesia Business Weekly , December 1994).

Siloam Gleneagles Hospitals:
In 1994, the construction of this high-class hospital commenced in Lippo
City, prior to obtaining a permit from the Health Department of Health.
This US$ 70 million investment is a joint venture of the Lippo Group (30%),
some Indonesian partners from the Salim Group (Ibrahim Risyad and Anthony
Salim), two other Indonesian partners, The Nien King and Ferry Sonneville,
and the Singapore-listed Parkway Holdings, a leading regional healthcare
group. Parkway itself is partly owned by the Sino-Malaysian entrepreneur,
Vincent Tan, his close friend Mohkzani Mahathir, second son of Malaysian
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, and Indonesian entrepreneur Johannes
Kotjo, a business partner of Bambang Trihatmojo.
Lippo's grand strategy is to build 50 of such uptown hospitals all over
Indonesia, beginning with three, namely the one in Lippo City, another one
in Lippo Village, and another one in Sentul Highland, where Lippo is
involved in a joint venture with Bambang Trihatmojo.
Meanwhile, another Gleneagles hospital is also being built in Medan, North
Sumatra, by Probosutedjo, Suharto's half-brother, and a Sino-Indonesian
businessman, Kaharuddin Ongko, with a 75% share of Parkway (sources:
Indonesian Business Weekly , April 22, 1994: 38, and Dec. 9, 1994: 28;Sinar
, Oct. 21, 1995: 17; The Bulletin , Febr. 6, 1996: 48, Oct. 9, 1996: 53;
Swasembada , January 1994: 42, 22 August-11 Sept. 1996: 113).

GMAC Lippo Finance:
This joint venture between General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) and
Lippo Finance, was established with a permit from Indonesia's Finance
Minister on November 28, 1995, with 80% shares controlled by General
Motors. The aim of this joint venture is to promote the sales of General
Motor cars in Indonesia. Interestingly, GM already has an assembling plant
in Jakarta, owned by PT Garmak. 84% shares of this company is owned by
Probosutedjo and his wife, Ratmani. So, indirectly, Lippo is also helping
to promote the Probosutedjo's family business (sources: Ian M. Chalmers.
Economic Nationalism and the Third World State: The Political Economy of
the Indonesian Automotive Industry, 1950-1984. Ph.D. thesis at the
Australian National University (ANU), Dec. 1988, p. xv; Gatra , February 3,
1996: 83).

PT Dwibras Darma:
This Indonesian franchise holder of Toys 'R' US is owned by James T. Riady,
Sudwikatmono, Brasali, and Peter Darmawan. Apart from the Toys 'R' US shop
in Lippo Group's Lippo City (= Lippo Karawaci), which was officially opened
on May 29, 1996, James Riady and his business partners are also planning to
open similar shops in several other (mega) malls in Jakarta (source: Warta
Ekonomi , June 3, 1996: 28).

PT Wiraswasta Gemilang Indonesia:
This used lubricating oil recycling company is owned by several key
shareholders of the Salim Group, namely Ibrahim Risyad, Wilson Pribadi, and
Hendra Liem. 60% of its US$ 100 million investment comes from three
international financial institutions, namely the Asian Development Bank,
the Commonwealth Development Corporation, the Asian Finance and Investment
Corporation, Banque Nationale de Paris, and Lippo Bank.
(source: Tiras , March 28, 1996: 29)

Mayapada Group:
This business group was established in the early 1980s by Tahir, a graduate
in business administration from the Golden Gate University in San
Francisco, who married Mochtar Riady's eldest daughter, Rosy. At first, the
core business of this group was in the distribution of cars, particularly
brands assembled in Indonesia in Liem Sioe Liong's Indomobil Group, such as
Suzuki, Mazda, etcetera. In the early 190s, however, that car business
declined, and Mayapada switched to large scale garment manufacturing and
export. The group now operates six garment plants in Jakarta, apart from
being involved in tourism and banking. Initially, the group's PT
Mayatexdian Industry offerred nearly 30% of their shares to the public on
the Jakarta Stock Exchange, retaining 70% of its shares in control of the
Lippo Group.
Then, in January 1994, the Lippo shares were sold to another textile giant,
Robby Tjahjadi from the Kanindo Group. Eventually, after all of Robby's
shares in PT Kanindotex and PT Mayatexdian Industry were taken over by
Bambang Trihatmojo and three of his business partners, through their joint
venture, PT Lamicitra Nusantara, which manages those two textile companies
together. Nevertheless, while the majority of PT Mayatexdian Industry's
shares are owned by Bambang and his friends, a minority of the shares of
this licence holder of Manhattan men's wear -- and the company's management
-- is still controlled by the Riady family (sources: A Study on Top 3000
National Private Business Groups in Indonesia, 1991-1992. Jakarta: PT CISI
Raya Utama, pp. 434-436; Indonesian Capital Market Directory 1994. Fifth
Edition, Jakarta: Institute for Economic and Financial Research, pp.
90-91;Warta Ekonomi , January 24, 1994: 76; Swasembada , August 1995: 40,
42, 47; Gatra , August 5, 1995: 86).

PT Masato Prima:
This real estate agent and contracting firm is a joint venture between the
Lippo Group (through Lippo Land Development), the Metropolitan Linggajaya
Group and PT Aditya Toa Development. The latter is a joint venture of
Hashim Djojohadikusumo, a Sino-Indonesian businessman, Herry Wijaya, and
Kajima Corporation from Japan. PT Masato Prima has been involved in
constructing the Permata Hijau luxury residential complex in South Jakarta,
with 182 units of houses valaued at US$ 1,600 per m2, a club house, a
business centre, designed by the Californian architect Richard Dalrymple,
and completed in 1992 (sources: Swasembada , February 1992: 110, March
1992: 18 and 10-pages advertisement).

Lippo Investment Management (LIM);
The executive director of LIM is  Didier J. Lemaistre. This French-born
financial executive, who was brought into Lippo by Mochtar Riady in 1988
and assigned to direct LIM in 1991, is a member of the powerful
Djojohadikusumo family. His three powerful brothers-in-law are Dr
Soedradjat Djiwandono, a Harvard-graduate who is the governor of
Indonesia's central bank (Bank Indonesia), Mayor Gen Prabowo Subianto,
commander of Kopassus , the Indonesian army special force and a graduate of
Fort Benning, USA, and the previously mentioned business tycoon, Hashim
Djojohadikusumo, a graduate in politics and economics from Claremont
College, California, USA. Didier and Soedradjat are both sons-in-law of the
respected Indonesian economic guru , Prof. Soemitro Djojohadikusumo,
founder of the University of Indonesia's Economic Faculty and long time
minister in Suharto's cabinets (sources:Prospek , May 8, 1993: 80-81;
Raphael Pura, "Hashim emerges in corporate Indonesia," Asian Wall Street
Journal , February 2, 1993).

>From all this business links and many others which I have not been able to
unearth, it can be concluded that the Riadys do have close connections with
the Suharto, Djojohadikusumo, and Liem Sioe Liong families. Hence, the
Lippo connections with the Clinton Administration are certainly influenced
by Suharto's interests in the public (political) as well as in private
(economic) domains.

                        Mochtar Riady's first attempt to enter the US
financial market

        Prior to buying the Worthern Bank's shares in Arkansas, which
eventually led to the close relationships between the Riadys and close
financial friends of the Clintons, Mochtar Riady has already attempted,
unsuccessfully, to become an important player in the US financial market.
That move took place during the Carter Administration, in 1977, when at the
age of 47, Mochtar Riady offered to buy 200,767 shares owned by Bert Lance
in the National Bank of Georgia.
        Bert Lance was at that time an important financial official under
the Carter Administration, and was in personal financial difficulties, due
to unfavorable banking practices (e.g. overdrafting). Mochtar Riady saw
that as a chance to get into the US financial (and possibly, political)
arena, and ask the favour of an intermediary, Robert B. Anderson, to buy
Lance's shares. He tried to buy those shares via the Chemical Bank of San
Francisco, which was a joint venture partner of BCA in PT Multicor, and
wrote a letter of intent to Lance. Unfortunately for Riady, at that time.
Before the shares purchase could be carried out, the US media got to know
about this plan, and Riady's name was splashed over the newspaper pages,
and the deal was cancelled.
        Only five years later did Mochtar Riady's plan, at that time still
on behalf of BCA, to purchase a significant portion of a US bank's shares,
succeeded. The target this time was the Hibernia Bank in San Francisco,
which had since the beginning of the New Order handled the financial
arrangements of the sale of US wheat to Indonesia. It was no coincidence,
that this bank was chosen, because another Liem Sioe Liong-Suharto (Salim
Group) venture, the Bogasari flour mills, had had the monopoly of milling
the US wheat exported to Indonesia under the PL 480 subsidy to American
wheat farmers (Soetriyono, n.d.: 55-57).
        In other words, the take over of Hibernia Bank by BCA strengthened
the Salim Group's control over -- and thereby, income from -- the American
wheat exported to Indonesia under a subsized price. With its monopoly over
flour milling, the Salim Group eventually advanced its monopoly over
Indonesia's instant noodle market, and has now become the largest exporter
of this traditionally East Asian specialty.
        The take over of Hibernia Bank, however, did not bring Mochtar
Riady -- and his political backer in Indonesia -- closer to the White
House, assuming that that was still his political agenda. This probably
explains, why after his unsuccessful bid to buy a significant portion of
shares in National Bank of Georgia (President Carter's home province), the
Riadys shifted their attention to an Arkansas bank.

                                The Riady family's close business links
with the children of
                                their business partner, the late Hasjim Ning

        The US media reports about the "Indonesian connection" seem still
to beunclear about the relation of the Wiriandinata couple (Arief and
Soraya), who donated the amazing US$ 425,000 for the Clinton presidential
campaign, and the Riadys. In other words, was it a donation from the
company, hence, a donation from a "foreign national", or a donation from a
US resident, made from funds generated in the US during their stay in the
USA.
        Personally, I believe that that political donation came straight
from the Lippo Group, and is generated from Lippo's business activities in
Indonesia, Hong Kong, or China. I also do not believe that the
Wiriandinatas were acting on their own behalf.
        Why? First of all, Soraya Wiriandinata's father, Hasyim Ning, one
of the few indigenous Indonesian businesspeople who successfully survived
the transition from the Sukarno to the Suharto administration, was not
simply an ordinary friend or small business partner of the Riadys in the
Lippo Group. Until November 1995, he was still listed at the Jakarta stock
market as the "president commissioner" of Lippo Bank (Gatra , Nov 25, 1995:
77).
        Secondly, in one of his interviews with the Indonesian media,
Mochtar Riady had expressed his eagerness to train an unnamed child of
Hasyim Ning to join the Lippo Group's management. He had assigned that task
to one of his own sons. In particular, he had asked that child of Hasyim
Ning, not to relinquish the agency of Cherokee jeeps, since the child's
father, Hasyim Ning, "the automobile king" during the Sukarno
administration, had lost most of his car agency rights to other business
people during the New Order (Sinar , Oct. 21, 1995: 19).
        Based on this information, it is most likely, that Arief and/or
Soraya were or was the child of the late Hasyim Ning, who was being
prepared to join the management rank of Lippo Group. This only further
strengthen the view, that their donation to the Clinton presidential
campaign, was a task they had to carry out, as part of their "management
training."
        Another offspring of Hasyim Ning, Ismail (27 years), who studied
economics at the Trisakti University in Jakarta, may also have been groomed
for a managerial position in the Lippo Group. While still studying in
university, three years ago, he was already a director of the Ning
Associates investment company (Prospek , July 10, 1993: 20). But, based on
the information I have gathered so far, it does not seem that Ismail Ning
has also been involved in the lobbying activities in the USA.

                                Lobbying the GSP debate

        Influencing President Clinton's East Timor policy, might not be the
only political agenda, which the Riadys had in mind, by maintaning a close
relationship with the Clinton administration. I believe that influencing US
trade policy towards Indonesia, was a more urgent and important one.
        I base this belief on the fact that one of the Lippo Group
companies, namely Lippo Industries, had been the casualty of US trade
policy to Indonesia. In particular, the possibility that the Clinton
administration might abolish the GSP (general system of preferences), which
would harm Indonesia's export to the US.
        The debate on whether to abolish or continue the GSP facility for
Indonesia was sparked, three years ago, due to the campaign of human rights
organizations (i.e. Asiawatch and the International Labor Rights Education
and Research Agency) and trade unions (i.e. AFL-CIO) in the USA against the
violation of workers' rights in Indonesia and East Timor. These violations
include the manipulative recruitment of young East Timorese to work for
Suharto-related businesses in Indonesia, organized by Suharto's eldest
daughter, Tutut; the repression of independent trade unions in Indonesia,
especially the SBSI under the leadership of Dr Mochtar Pakpahan; and the
murder of the female worker activist Marsinah in Surabaya.
        The US threat to abolish the GSP facility for Indonesia was a real
threat for the Indonesian business community, because exports to the US
under the GSP program had impressively grown 70% a year, from US$ 87
million in 1988 to US$ 216 million in 1990, mainly dominated by
manufactured products.
        During that occasion, the Indonesian ambassador in Washington, DC
and former governor of the Indonesian central bank, Arifin Siregar, the
Indonesian economic guru , Prof. Soemitro Djojohadikusumo, whose son-in-law
is an important Lippo manager, and "a source in the [Indonesian] Foreign
Ministry", emphasized the need to utilize Democratic Party lobbies in the
US to counter what they perceived as the damaging effect of those US
pro-worker rights' lobbies (sources:Prospek , March 7, 1992:
28-29;Indonesia Business Weekly , August 13, 1993: 14, August 20, 1993,
Cover Story;Tempo , Sept. 25, 1993: 24).
        Hence, it is reasonable to believe that here the Lippo connections
were really utilized -- successfully, as it later turned out -- by the
Jakarta regime to maintain the US GSP facilities for Indonesian products.
Especially since the Riady and Suharto families jointly own one of the
largest textile factories in Indonesia, PT Mayatexdian Industry.
Nevertheless, members of the Lippo Group themselves did not want to take
future risk of this kind. Fearing the abolition of the GSP scheme for
loudspeaker boxes exported by a Lippo Industries subsidiary, Daiwa
Industrial Indonesia (DAI), 35% of that company's shares were sold to a
Taiwanese company (source: Info Bisnis , May 1994: 17).
        In that light it is interesting to observe that currently, despite
the detention of two Indonesian independent unionists, Mochtar Pakpahan
from SBSI  and Dita Sari from PPBI, who face the threat of the death
penalty under the Indonesian anti-subversion law, the Clinton
Administration has not taken out the GSP stick from their diplomatic
arsenal. They have even gone ahead with their offer to sell F-16 military
planes to Indonesia.
        So, in conclusion one can say, that the aspirations of the East
Timorese freedom fighters as well as Indonesian workers have been
overshadowed by the overlapping business interests of the Indonesian and US
ruling elites. Clinton has prefered to listen to Mochtar Riady than to
Mochtar Pakpahan, despite Pakpahan's belief that the US Embassy was
supporting his cause -- and despite, or because of, Pakpahan's public
support for a UN supervised referendum to respect the East Timorese
people's right to self-determination.

Newcastle, October 30, 1996

Dr George J. Aditjondro
Jakarta oligarchy researcher
University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
phone:  (61-49) 677 053 (h)
                (61-49) 215 536
fax: (h):       (61-49) 677 053
       (w):     (61-49) 216 902