East Timor, a land long brutalized by foreign occupiers, was declared independent last night in a joyous ceremony in the seaside capital of Dili, and took its place among the community of nations.
The world's newest country came into being with a solemn declaration of independence by parliamentary speaker Fransisco Guterres and a speech by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
"I declare the establishment of the Democratic Republic of East Timor as an independent and sovereign state," Guterres said. "Glory to the heroes of our liberation."
PHOTO: REUTERS
Minutes later, former guerrilla commander Xanana Gusmao was declared the country's first president. Last month, the 55-year-old poet won the overwhelming majority of votes in a UN-supervised presidential election.
"Independence! As a people, as a territory, as a nation! One body, one mind, one wish!" Gusmao said, in a prepared speech. "Our independence will have no value, if all the people in East Timor continue to live in poverty and continue to suffer all kinds of difficulties."
The blue UN flag was lowered by a peacekeeper. The new national flag was escorted into the arena by a platoon of soldiers from East Timor's nascent defense force. It was raised as a choir sang East Timor's national anthem.
"I salute you -- people of East Timor -- for the courage and perseverance you have shown," Annan told an exuberant crowd as the UN officially transferred authority over the half-island territory.
"Yours has not been an easy path to independence," Annan said. "You should be very proud of your achievement. That a small nation is able to inspire the world and be the focus of our attention is the highest tribute that I can pay."
Thousands of East Timorese smiled, cheered and hugged each other in an outpouring of emotion marking the end of four centuries of Portuguese colonial rule, 24 years of brutal Indonesian occupation and two and a half years of interim rule by the UN.
Thirty minutes earlier, Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri arrived at the venue accompanied by Gusmao. They held hands and raised them aloft, as the crowd cheered and clapped.
Attending the festivities were former US president Bill Clinton, who officially represented the US, Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio.
Jose Ramos-Horta, the new East Timorese foreign minister who shared the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize with Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, told reporters that now is a time for "peace, tolerance and forgiveness."
"We are very happy. We are a proud and simple people who deserve peace, who deserve freedom," he said.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the southern coast of Mindanao in the Philippines at 7:38am today, prompting the US Tsunami Warning System to issue an alert for neighboring countries, including Taiwan. The system issued a purple alert indicating a "tsunami threat." The potential threat zone includes Taiwan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Yap and Palau. Philippine authorities were assessing the damage from the quake, with the office of civil defense seeking to verifying initial reports that 15 people had been killed and 129 injured in the region, mostly from falling debris. Arlene Hollero, disaster chief of Maasim town in the Philippines' Sarangani Province,
‘GRAY ZONE’ PRESSURE: Beijing’s activities are intended to create the deceitful impression that China has jurisdiction over the area around Taiwan, the CGA said Taiwan’s rights over its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone must not be violated by any country, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that it will not accept any unprovoked actions. The council issued the remarks in response to the China Coast Guard conducting maritime enforcement drills near eastern Taiwan and claiming to fully exercise China’s maritime administrative law enforcement authority. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has been closely monitoring the situation and is taking concrete steps to defend the nation’s sovereignty and secure its waters, the council said. China has no sovereign rights over the waters off eastern
RESILIENCE: Taiwan plays a key role in semiconductors, energy, information infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, AIT Director Raymond Greene said Taiwan’s continued investment in deterrence and resilience remains vital, especially in uncrewed systems and other emerging technologies, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday. Greene made the remarks at the annual National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience held by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), a government-backed think tank. As Taiwan last year became the US’ fourth-largest trading partner and supply chain security is becoming more important, cooperation in emerging technologies continues to deepen between the two countries, he said. The US is committed to accelerating innovation, building key infrastructure, strengthening cooperation
RIGHT DIRECTION: Taiwan’s efforts to prevent forced labor include a proposal to ‘fully prohibit’ employers from withholding workers’ documents, an official said Taiwan is to establish a mechanism to restrict imports of goods linked to forced labor, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, after the US proposed imposing additional tariffs on Taiwanese goods over labor concerns. “The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are to establish an interministerial review procedure,” Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “The government is to use the Foreign Trade Act [貿易法] as the legal basis to restrict imports of goods produced with forced labor” and bring its supply chain governance more in line with international standards on human rights, resilience
RSS