Timor-Leste, a small country in Southeast Asia, finally emerged in 2002 from its long colonial rule and foreign military occupation and returned to its independence. From the outset, the nascent nation was burdened with a heavy legacy of poverty, with three-quarters of its infrastructure destroyed in the flames of war and the vast majority of its people living in abject poverty.
In this land that was once encroached upon and plundered by countries such as Portugal, the Netherlands, Indonesia and Australia, cruel historical stories are told silently.
The battleground of the Age of Discovery
In the 16th century, the dawn of the Age of Discovery appeared, and the European powers began to explore and expand the world. In the midst of this carnival of colonial plunder, the South Sea Islands in Southeast Asia became a battleground for the two seafaring powers, the Netherlands and Portugal.
The two countries battled fiercely over the ocean, and in the end, the Portuguese occupied a small part of the eastern part of the island of Timor, but were defeated in the battle for the entire South Sea Islands. The Dutch occupied most of the South Sea archipelago, including the western part of the island of Timor, and handed over colonial rule over the land to Indonesia after World War II.
In this way, the island of Timor was artificially divided into two parts, east and west. Portuguese Timor in the east declared independence in the 70s of the 20th century when the Portuguese colonial system collapsed, but was soon invaded militarily by neighboring Indonesia.
In December 1975, Indonesian President Suharto led an army of 35,000 troops to launch a brutal invasion of defenceless East Timor. Faced with an overwhelming balance of power, the people of Timor-Leste were soon plunged into dire straits.
For the next 24 years, Timor-Leste was under Indonesian military occupation. During this period, pro-independence forces were brutally suppressed, and countless patriots were arrested, killed, or forcibly displaced. Even more outrageous, the Indonesian armed forces have frantically destroyed three-quarters of Timor-Leste's infrastructure, including bridges, roads and railways, in an attempt to cut off Timor-Leste's economic lifeline.
Despite this, the aspirations of the East Timorese people for freedom and independence have never been extinguished. Under pressure from public opinion at home and abroad, the new Indonesian government was forced to hold a referendum on the status of East Timor in 1999, and to everyone's surprise, 78% of East Timorese voted for independence!
Australia was the largest contributor to the referendum in Timor-Leste, with $46 million in mission funds, $20 million donated to Australia, and the Australian city of Darwin became the rear of the mission, providing substantial support for the referendum for the people of Timor-Leste.
However, the price of all this was dearly, and as soon as the referendum results were announced, pro-Indonesian militants launched a frenzied campaign of retaliation, mass burning, looting and killing, until the United Nations intervened to contain the situation.
Thus, on 20 May 2002, after decades of bloody struggle, East Timor officially emerged from foreign domination and became a sovereign and independent State.
The Death of Oil
While the dawn of independence has finally arrived, the prospects for East Timor remain bleak. This small country is rich in oil and natural gas.
In 2004, Timor-Leste's Bayu-Utan oil and gas field began production, generating considerable revenue for the country's reconstruction. Fortunately, this period coincided with a continuous rise in international oil prices, reaching an all-time high of $147 per barrel in 2008. During this brief "golden age", Timor-Leste's sovereign wealth fund was the only fund unaffected by the 2008 financial tsunami.
Since 2012, the production of the Pay-U U Thant oil field has been declining rapidly, and 90% of Timor-Leste's fiscal revenue and 80% of GDP have been unsupported. The employment situation has deteriorated, with companies laying off 15 per cent of their workforce while the labour force has increased by 10 per cent. The small country, which depends on the lifeblood of oil, is in an unprecedented predicament.
In addition to Payu Uthane, Timor-Leste actually has a larger Risen oil and gas field. But what is sad is that 80% of the revenue of this precious resource at the doorstep has been taken up by neighboring Australia.
Even if you help me become independent, you can't steal my life-saving money, right?
It all started in 1972, when Indonesia and Australia reached an agreement on the maritime boundary to draw Australia's maritime boundary to the Timor Trough, just 40 nautical miles from East Timor.
Later, when Indonesia invaded Timor-Leste, it found that the deal was a loss, and proposed to redraw the maritime border on the basis of equidistance principles. Australia resolutely refused, and the two sides eventually reached a "joint development" plan for the waters off Timor-Leste, with the proceeds of the main part of the Greater Sunrise oil field going to Australia.
After East Timor's independence in 2002, it was found that the treaty was heavily tilted and Australia requested a revision. But Australia is clearly unwilling to give up this piece of fat easily, and has resorted to despicable means in the negotiations.
In 2006, Australian intelligence agencies quietly installed bugging devices in the Prime Minister's Office of Timor-Leste, stealing all of Timor-Leste's negotiating tactics and cards. In this case, Timor-Leste had no choice but to accept Australia's terms: to give up its claims to the maritime border, but to receive half of the profits from the Sunrise oil field.
This is clearly a humiliating bargain. Timor-Leste has temporarily reaped some of its economic benefits, but has paid a huge price for its sovereignty. What's even more odious is that a few years later, when Australia's wiretapping was exposed, the Timorese government was furious and sued Australia in an international tribunal with a complaint.
There were many debates and it took more than ten years. While the two sides are going to court, Australia is once again cunningly stalling for time so that the interests of the Greater Sunrise oil field continue to belong to it. Until 2018, under pressure from the international community, Australia had to make significant concessions on the issue of maritime borders.
According to the new agreement reached in 2018, the future distribution of revenues from the Greater Sunrise oil field will be more favorable to Timor-Leste. Timor-Leste receives 70 per cent of the proceeds if the oil and gas are transported to Timor-Leste for processing, and 80 per cent if it is shipped to Australia for processing.
The following year, Timor-Leste spent $650 million to buy a controlling stake in the Greater Sunrise oil field, which marked that Timor-Leste had finally regained its "life-saving money".
Looking back at the history of Timor-Leste, it is not difficult to see that as a small country, it has long been bullied and plundered by major powers, and has paid a heavy price. From Portuguese and Dutch colonial rule, to Indonesia's armed invasion, to Australia's economic plunder, the people of Timor-Leste have always struggled for freedom and dignity.
Even after independence, East Timor has not been able to completely free itself from the oppression of external forces. In order to protect its own interests, Australia has resorted to despicable means to deprive Timor-Leste of its well-deserved maritime rights.
It was the perseverance of the people of Timor-Leste that enabled this small country to finally win the dignity of independence. From the brutal years of war to the long diplomatic game, the people of Timor-Leste have forged today's achievements with blood and sweat.