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Article: AUSTRALIA'S ROLE IN EAST TIMOR.
- Article from:
- Contemporary Review
- Article date:
- September 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Contemporary Review Company Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In our July issue the author examined Australian relations with Asia. Now in the second part he concentrates on Australia's role in one small troubled country in the last quarter century.
AUSTRALIAN-Indonesian relations have often been governed by an asymmetry whereby Indonesia is not expected to reciprocate, with equal strength, Australia's emphasis on good relations with them. It is thought that we need Indonesian friendship more than they need ours. Indonesia has 212 million people; we have 18 million. We cannot threaten them; they could, theoretically, threaten us. On this basis, it has often been insisted that the need for good relations with Indonesia ...