The Straits Times Interactive, 18 July 1998

SURABAYA -- Intimidation and looting and fears of further violence have sparked a fresh exodus of ethnic Chinese from Indonesia's second city of Surabaya, residents said yesterday. Around 300 ethnic Chinese crowded the port yesterday morning for ships out of Indonesia after a week of steadily increasing departures, a Surabaya harbour official said, and most shops owned by ethnic Chinese in the area were closed.

One of the ships was heading for Hongkong.

Witnesses in the East Java town of Jember, near Surabaya, said some shops, warehouses and plantations owned by ethnic Chinese had been looted recently.

One witness said hundreds of people had plundered rice fields and shrimp farms near Jember, and a large crowd including women and children had stripped clean 10 hectares of unripe coffee beans.

Ethnic Chinese at Surabaya harbour said they had been the victims of intimidation and feared a repeat of the rioting that ravaged several cities in May, in which ethnic Chinese were a target of looting, arson and rape. Tens of thousands of Chinese fled the country in May and many have not yet returned.

"Prior to the May riots, it was just like this," said Ms Sandra Gunawan, a spare parts dealer leaving on a boat for Hongkong. "There were phone calls and anonymous letters threatening unrest. And it came true, didn't it?"

All Chinese-owned businesses in Jember were closed yesterday, witnesses said, and many shops in Surabaya were shut.

Chinese in the region said they feared outbreaks of violence on July 27, the anniversary of political unrest in Jakarta two years ago, and Aug 17, Indonesia's independence day. Reuters.