Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, 3rd Edition, 3rd Edition

42Asia

In contrast to its meteoric rise in Latin America, China’s involvement in Asia goes back millennia. Its most recent march to dominate the continent began shortly after World War II.

Mao’s tactics were driven by the goal of spreading revolution and Communist parties throughout Asia.

Nowhere was this more evident than in Indonesia and the rapid ascendance of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI). With US support, the Indonesian army struck back in 1965–66. The Communist Purge massacred between five hundred thousand and three million people (see Chapter 7). By the time I arrived in Jakarta on my first EHM assignment in 1971, the violence had pretty much ended; the US and especially the CIA were praised for bringing right-wing General Suharto ...