June 13,1998---Madeleine Korbel Albright

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Taiwan Tati Cultural
And Educational Foundation
B16F, No.3 Ta-Tun 2St.
Taichung, Taiwan, R.O.C.
June 13, 1998.

Dear Mrs. Madeleine Korbel Albright,

Very thanks for you and your government, because the "security" of Asia crisis is holding on United States policy.

We always concern about Indonesian's radical reform. It hint the civil rights movement and political chaos would explore more serious civil war.

There is a new's report may be useful for you and your government.

As Indonesians struggle to comprehend an economic crisis that in just a few months has wiped out 30 years of growth. The search is on for a scapegoat. "We little people don't understand where this crisis has come from." says a driver who earns 20 cents a day in south Sulawesi's riot-hit city of Vjing Pandang. "Our thoughts automatically run to the Chinese".

Though Chinese-bashing has became a knee-jerk response in Indonesia to economic problems, things haven't always been so tense.

When the first Chinese merchants and artisans arrived in the 13th century, relations with local Indonesians were largely harmonious. That began to change about 400 years later with the arrival of Dutch colonialists. In their apartheid system, the Dutch employed the Chinese as intermediaries and tax collectors. Everyone know it, the tax collectors was acted a evil instead as long as Jesus' times.

Intermediaries are hated as a swindler.

Sowing the seeds of distrust that persist to this day.

As "successive waves of refugee fleeing war and famine in China touched down on Indonesia's shores, the animosity occasionally erupted into violent assaults against the minority.

Many Chinese, particularly those with money, aren't waiting to see if another way can be found. Thousands have already sought refuge in Bali, storing their cash and gold or buying land on the resort-filled Hindu dominated island.

Others are sending family members with suitcases full of dollars to Hong Kong or Singapore, further decimating Indonesia's economy.

Of more than $40 Billion that is estimated to have been taken out of the country in recent months. More than half is thought to belong to Indonesia's Chinese minority.

But most Chinese lack the wealth to pick up and move and, increasingly, they fear the worst. In the darkened bicycle shop in Balung, a small woman is still listening for the terrible sound of breaking glass.

Jakarta, Indonesia, June 10

--- Indonesian human right and women's groups Wednesday(June 10, 1998) claimed dozens of ethnic Chinese women were raped and assaulted during a wave of rioting that rocked, Jakarta last month.

An official estimate says at least 1,188 people were killed in the violence, which help forced ex-President Suharto to resign, ending 32 years of authoritarian rule, when the violence climaxed on May 13 and 14.

"Women were gang raped in front their neighbors, some were stripped naked and forced to dance. They were humiliated." said Nugroho Katjasungkana, a volunteer from a coalition of social welfare group. She said more than 100 cases had been documented.

Many of the rapes were allegedly committed by mobs who broke into Chinese-owned shops and homes that were also looted and set a fire.

She cited one case of a 12-year-old girl being raped by a group of seven intruders who forced her parents to watch. One man said a group of rapist mutilated his wife with a razor. Another man said his two sisters were gang raped and then thrown into a burning building where they died.

Rape victims in traditionally conservative Indonesia are often too shamed or afraid to press charges. The anarchy that reigned during the rioting might also make it difficult to locate independent, witnesses and identify suspects.

So, we only to tell the truth to you and your government, with hopes to help the Indonesian ethnic Chinese women.

With best wishes to you.

 

 

Sincerely Yours,
Yang Hsu-Tung.
President of
Taiwan Tati Cultural
And Educational Foundation

 

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