Australian Attitude to the Issue of Sovereignty of East Timor In the 20th Century

ЮГО-ВОСТОЧНАЯ АЗИЯ: АКТУАЛЬНЫЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ РАЗВИТИЯ, 2023, №5(61), 252-261

 
Annotation: Australia has traditionally shown serious interest in East Timor. This interest is based on the rich deposits of oil and natural gas in the Timor Sea. After the separation of East Timor from Portugal in 1975, the problem of the Timor Sea worsened. The fact is that ships of the Soviet Navy and the People's Republic of China could appear in the waters and ports of an independent new state, which potentially «cut» the American system of alliances in Southeast Asia and Oceania. The desire of the United States to control the waters of the Timor Sea was one of the main reasons for the Indonesian occupation of East Timor in the mid-1970s. For this reason, the Gerald Ford administration gave the green light to President Suharto to invade, and then turned a blind eye when the Indonesian armed forces committed genocide. In the late 1990s, Australia changed its attitude to the East Timor problem to the opposite. Canberra found itself at the head of a peacekeeping force in 1999. The reason was ideological and pragmatic considerations, which are discussed in the presented article.

Keywords: Australia, East Timor, Indonesia, East Timor problem