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Defying China, RI sends envoy to Nobel ceremony

Indonesia sent its chargé d’affaires in Oslo to attend the ceremony to award Chinese dissident human rights activist Liu Xiaobo the Nobel Peace Prize in the Norwegian capital of Oslo on Friday

Mustaqim Adamrah (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, December 11, 2010

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Defying China, RI sends envoy to Nobel ceremony

I

ndonesia sent its chargé d’affaires in Oslo to attend the ceremony to award Chinese dissident human rights activist Liu Xiaobo the Nobel Peace Prize in the Norwegian capital of Oslo on Friday.

“Ibu Wening [Esthyprobo Fatandari], the Indonesian Embassy’s chargé d’affaires in Oslo will
represent Indonesia in attending the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Michael Tene told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

“The ceremony is about to begin, and she’s already at the venue,” he said late afternoon Jakarta time.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said last month that Indonesia would skip the award ceremony, summoning its ambassador to Norway, Esti Andayani, back to the archipelago to attend the two-day Bali Democracy Forum, which began Thursday.

The third Bali Democracy Forum, first held in 2008 on Indonesia’s initiative to promote democracy, drew delegates from more than 40 participating countries from the Asia-Pacific region and more than 20 observing countries and international NGOs.

In response to Marty’s statement, observers and human rights activists on Thursday accused Indonesia of bowing to pressure from China, with international media earlier reporting that the Chinese government had sent letters to foreign ministries and embassies urging diplomats to stay away from the
ceremony.

The Chinese government also warned of “consequences” for those who supported the pro-democracy activist and writer. China also barred Liu’s wife from attending.

Activists say the government made the right move by finally allowing Indonesia to be represented at the ceremony by Wening, proving Indonesia’s position on human rights issues to the international community, including China.

Indonesia’s representative to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and member of the National Commission on Human Rights, Rafendi Djamin, said it would be “outrageous” if Indonesia were to skip such an international level event.

“Indeed, Indonesia has to maintain a good relationship with China, but it also has a clear position on human rights,” he told the Post.

“With Indonesia present [at the ceremony], its position on human rights is still clear.”

While praising the government’s decision to send a representative to the ceremony, Al Araf, the program manager at human rights NGO Imparsial, said the government needed to separate politics from the Nobel Peace Prize.

“We know China is displeased that a Chinese activist was awarded the Nobel Prize. But that does not justify our absence [at the ceremony],” he told the Post.

University of Indonesia international relations experts Syamsul Hadi and Makmur Keliat said Indonesia’s presence at the ceremony would affect bilateral relations with China.

“China would be happier if Indonesia were absent. But we can diplomatically tell China that [Indonesia’s presence] is only to fulfill the invitation and has nothing to do with supporting a Chinese rebel,” Syamsul told the Post.

Makmur said relations between Indonesia and China relations would be “psychologically” impaired.

“But I don’t think China would impose heavy ‘consequences’ on Indonesia,” he told the Post.

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