A GREAT SLIDE BACKWARD IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

摘要

When he presided over a landmark meeting of Pacific Rim heads of state in 1994, Indonesia's President Suharto was hailed as a dynamic advocate of free trade and modernization. But the Suharto who hosted a series of meetings of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in late July came off more like a run-of-the-mill dictator. As the meetings droned on in Jakarta, thousands of protesters assembled across town to jeer the government's efforts to suppress an opposition party. And the avowed free trader was taking heat from Tokyo and Wash-ington for allowing his son to set up a cushy car venture.