Asia’s youngest nation defends its China ties: ‘it’s the Chinese helping us’

In an interview, East Timor’s president questions why the West wants his country to ‘do the opposite’ of the ‘whole international community’

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An aerial view of Dili, capital of East Timor. Photo: AFP

Published: 2:33pm, 15 Oct 2024Updated: 2:35pm, 15 Oct 2024

Along the waterfront of East Timor’s capital, buzzing restaurants sell local dishes and Portuguese colonial fare facing turquoise waters where the Indonesian military launched an invasion nearly half a century before.

Since emerging from decades of brutal occupation in 2002 on the back of an independence vote 25 years ago, Asia’s youngest nation has made remarkable political strides in its short history.

“The most successful? National healing, reconciliation, peace and stability,” President Jose Ramos-Horta said in a recent interview at his home in Dili. “There has been tremendous progress.”

Independent observers also say the microstate of 1.3 million stands out as a regional beacon of democracy and press freedom.

“It’s probably the most resilient and strongest democracy in Southeast Asia,” said Joshua Kurlantzick, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Archive pictures of freedom fighters, including East Timor’s President Jose Ramos-Horta, on display in Dili. Photo: AFP

But the country is fighting new battles on various fronts – a poverty rate above 40 per cent, crucial energy reserves that experts say will deplete within years, and a balancing act between Western allies and China.