East Timor-An Unknown Country

When people ask me where I am in Southeast Asia, whenever I mention my travel experience in East Timor, or when all East Timorese know about this country, I am often blank. This is understandable, because the country itself is almost unknown to most people, because it is relatively new and gained independence from Indonesia in 2002. East Timor is located between West Timor and Papua in Indonesia, which makes the country belong to the Southeast Asia Group. There are only more than 60 thousand tourists in this country every year. Compared with its neighbor Indonesia, more than 1.32 million people arrive every year. There are hardly any countries that East Timorese plan to visit when they are in Southeast Asia. Because of this fact and my curiosity about this country, I decided to embark on a journey to understand the story behind East Timor, how it came into being, why it is so poor and what its future is like. The following is a short story about East Timor.

The ancient kingdom of the empire

Although East Timor was a country we knew until the Portuguese colonized it in the16th century, the islands of this era were occupied by about 60 small countries, which had been trying to trade sandalwood with foreigners. Businessmen from China and India. Because of the abundance of sandalwood, the island attracted European explorers, which led to the island being colonized by Portugal.

Portuguese era

Pousadas is an ordinary Portuguese-style building scattered all over East Timor. They were built by the Portuguese for the Portuguese. They usually overlook the city on the top of the mountain and are isolated from the poor. This is a typical colonial activity. Fortunately, the Portuguese have left and this house is becoming a guest house for tourists. In the colonial era of17th century, two European powers appeared on the island, the Portuguese and the Dutch. They fought for the control of the island without any yielding results until they decided to split the island in two. The Portuguese controlled the eastern island of East Timor and the Dutch controlled the western half and other parts of Indonesia. Under Portuguese rule, East Timor was neglected and exploited. It doesn't see any investment or development by the Portuguese unless they are important to them, and sandalwood and coffee are exported. /kloc-At the beginning of the 0/9th century, Portugal's economy fell into a trough, and the situation was even worse when the colony was supported by heavy taxes. Then, the second world war came.

East Timor during the Second World War

The Timorese and allied forces entered the mountainous area and formed a resistance force, trying to stop the Japanese army, but to no avail. Like most Southeast Asian countries at that time, under the rule of the Japanese Empire, Japan brought East Timor into the prosperous territory of Greater East Asia, thus controlling European powers. Although the East Timorese ran into the mountains, formed an alliance with the Portuguese and their allies for the first time and launched guerrilla warfare against the Japanese, there was no fighting. However, this was not successful, and Japan finally drove its allies out of the island. After the war, the Japanese gave up the occupied territory, and the Portuguese had the opportunity to regain control of East Timor.

East Timor's brief first independence

It was not until 2002 that they could finally wave this flag proudly. The Portuguese met with great resistance from the East Timorese people, which led to the military coup in 1975. The Portuguese finally gave up the colony and began to establish a political party for the first time by the East Timorese people. In the subsequent political turmoil, Fretilin, as an independent party, defeated the coup attempt of the pro-Portuguese party (UDT) and unilaterally declared independence, making the country completely independent for the first time. Although the red panic swept the western world, the joy of East Timor's independence was short-lived.

Indonesian invasion

With the defeat of the United States in the Vietnam War, the last batch of troops withdrew from Saigon, which provided a way out for * * * productism in Southeast Asia, and the fear of * * * productism swept the western world. The western world is in a state of panic, and East Timor is celebrating its independence. Indonesia has different plans for this country. After seeing the coup, Indonesia saw the opportunity to merge East Timor into Indonesia and become the 27th province. Taking advantage of the fear of imperialism, Indonesia influenced the western world, gained support, got American military equipment, decided to move its troops to the border, and began to invade under the pretext of anti-colonialism. East Timor saw its arrival and sent many messages of support to the United States, but they were ignored. 1975 was the year when East Timor became independent from Portugal and Indonesia. Before the invasion, Indonesian President Suharto persuaded American President Ford to understand the purpose of Komodo's action and not to take action. Ford replied: "We will understand and will not put pressure on you on this issue. We understand the problem and your intentions. " The next day, on the calm morning of197565438+February 7, the invasion began, which was the largest military operation carried out by Indonesia so far. Indonesian troops began to invade from the west, controlled the radio tower and cut off communication with the outside world. By noon, Indonesian troops overthrew East Timor and were able to control Dili, the capital of East Timor. The United Nations condemned this action, but it did nothing to help the people of East Timor, while Australians believed that East Timor could not be self-governing and it was better not to become a part of Indonesia. Everyone turned a blind eye to the merger, and East Timor became a part of Indonesia in the next 26 years.

Indonesian occupation

When you are in Dili, it is necessary to visit the archives and museums of the East Timor Resistance Movement. Indonesia ruled East Timor with violence and atrocities. According to Indonesian official statistics, in 1974, there were 6,5321person in East Timor, and in 1975, the number dropped sharply to 498,433. In the first year of Indonesian occupation alone, East Timor lost more than 23% of its population. The people of East Timor did not give up so easily, because they ran to the mountains and began to arm themselves to resist. In order to solve this problem, the Indonesian army launched an "encirclement and suppression" campaign and wiped out the left and right rebel camps. Although the efforts of the resistance movement proved to be of no benefit to the Indonesian army, ideology prevailed and inspired a radical named xa nana gus Mao to form a resistance network, which laid the foundation for the turning point in East Timor.

turning point

Santa Cruz cemetery, * * * was blocked and slaughtered by Indonesian army. The struggle for independence with Indonesia lasted for many years, the Indonesian army committed countless atrocities, and the world became blind. It was not until 199 1 that the world began to realize what had happened in East Timor. During his visit to the United Nations in June, 5438+099 1 was cancelled due to Indonesia's opposition. The people of East Timor took advantage of the presence of foreign media in the city to hold a * * * * * event in Dili. The demonstration turned violent. When the camera turned, when the Dili massacre happened, people were stabbed and blocked in the Santa Cruz cemetery. More than 250 people were killed that day. After the massacre was brought to video, the video was smuggled to Australia and broadcast around the world. Shockingly, the world responded by uniting to provide assistance to the East Timorese, and activists organized * * * activities everywhere. The United States, Australia and Portugal condemned Indonesia, which led to the resignation of Indonesian President Suharto and won Xanana Gusm? o's vote in 2002, becoming the first president of the newly independent Democratic Republic of East Timor.

The future is still gray, but ......

Morning market is still the best way for local people to gather and trade. Although the East Timorese people's struggle for independence is long and cruel, many battles still exist. When I spoke to the people of East Timor, they still expressed serious concern about the future of the country. In 2007, after Xanana Gusm? o refused to be re-elected as president and held a general election, Jose Ramos-Horta was elected, and his opponents formed an alliance, saying that the election was fake. What followed was a violent attempt to assassinate the elected president. Until now, there is no leader in this country. When I traveled all over the country, I witnessed people living in extreme poverty. There is rubbish everywhere, and simple infrastructure such as roads is left for local people to make full use of. "We haven't had any ruling for many years. In fact, only in the past year, we only conducted two elections! " When I asked a very friendly East Timorese woman about * * *, she told me. Atauro island snorkeling is spectacular, only 2 hours' boat ride from Dili. As a tourist, I wonder why * * * doesn't invest in tourism, because East Timor has proved to be one of the best places for diving, snorkeling and witnessing wonderful marine life without dealing with tourists. The mountains of East Timor are also begging adventurers to climb. Then I started asking her why, and she just said, "Now is not their top priority". "What are their possible priorities?" I asked curiously and naively, and she said, "It may or may not be fast to establish stability." However, there is still a long way to go, and this is the potential for East Timor to become a big tourist destination.