The Straits Times Interactive, 18 July 1998

SOLO (Indonesia) -- Indonesia's ethnic Chinese, who were the main victims of the mid-May riots, worry that they could become the targets of another outbreak of violence, the Asian Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.

Catholic priest Sandyawan Sumardi, who led an investigation into the rapes of women during and after the May riots, was quoted as saying that he was convinced it was an organised rampage.

"I am fearful more violence will be unleashed to fulfil" people's political interests, he added.

The report said unease in Solo had been stoked by the sexual assault last week on a local ethnic Chinese woman.

Unlike in Jakarta, where government officials now conceded that more than 100 Chinese women were raped in May's unrest, police Lt-Colonel Iman Suwangsa said this was the first such confirmed incident in Solo since the riots began.

Four men from East Java were reportedly seen in the area of the crime.

At home with her brother and maid, the 20-year-old victim had returned to Solo for her wedding when the attack occurred.

Police said the rapists had attempted to extort money from the family, but in the end, they made away with just 25,000 rupiah (S$3.60).

President B. J. Habibie made a major appeal to assuage Chinese fears on Wednesday, promising to be "proactive in giving protection and security to all layers of society".

But doubts remained.

"You can consider what's happening an act of genocide," said Mr Fran Winarta, an Indonesian human-rights lawyer who is Chinese. "There's a plan to take the Chinese out of the economy."

The Journal said the economists and politicians trying to fathom how many billions of dollars would buy stability in Indonesia would do well to read the signs here in the seat of Javanese heartland.

"Real Javan," read the graffiti painted on the doors of many shops. "Muslim Pribumi" (indigenous Indonesian) was another favourite.

All along Slamed Riyadi street, the burned-out shells of Chinese-owned stores still stood as reminders of the violence that has brought this city to a halt since mid-May, the report said.

On those shops still intact were signs advertising the owners' support for reform, and their non-Chineseness.

Ethnic Chinese account for two-thirds of Indonesia's private, urban economy. They dominate the distribution network for food and other essentials, and those who fled took with them their piece in that network.

Those who remain hesitate to rebuild, afraid that the violence may not be over.

International Monetary Fund officials said the US$43 billion (S$72 billion) pledged last November to help bail out Indonesia was thought to be enough to solve its financial crisis.

The crisis still rages, and now those officials have scrambled to put into place an additional US$6 billion in international assistance.

But until the Chinese are convinced that staying is not a grave risk, commerce will languish, trade will break down and food will remain scarce, said the report.

"The government asks us to come back, and yet they place us in an even worse situation," says Chinese goods distributor Iswahyudya K.

Like many Chinese across Indonesia, he is planning an escape abroad for his family.

"I don't have the money right now to send my children, but of course, it's a long-term goal," he said.