Reuters
26-AUG-98
HONG KONG, Aug 26 (Reuters)- Hong Kong pressure groups on Wednesday
denounced a senior Indonesian government official who said there was
no proof that ethnic Chinese women had been systematically raped in
Indonesia during May riots.
Staging fresh protests against Indonesian violence, the Hong Kong
groups said they would urge Beijing to take stronger action against
Jakarta.
``We will ask Beijing to withdraw its loans to Indonesia, or that part
of the loan that has not been paid,'' said Democratic Party legislator
Albert Ho.
China has contributed $4 billion to loan packages that the
International Monetary Fund has arranged for struggling Asian
countries such as Indonesia, its central bank said in June.
Anger over atrocities committed against ethnic Chinese during riots
flared again in Hong Kong this week after Indonesian newspapers quoted
the head of Indonesia's State Intelligence Coordinating Board,
Moetojib, as saying there was no proof of systemic rapes.
Human rights groups have said that about 150 Chinese women were
systematically raped in the violence, in which 1,200 people died. The
head of an Indonesian government inquiry into the allegations said
last week he believed that the rapes had occured.
``We are very angry. It's just a political show,'' a senior member of
the Hong Kong Overseas Chinese General Association, said of Moetojib's
remarks. ``He is trying to intimidate the victims from coming out to
testify.''
More than two dozen people, led by Ho's party, marched on the Chinese
foreign ministry office on Wednesday to press their demands, carrying
banners that read, ``Stop violence against women, protect human
rights.''
