Djawoto (

Perfected Spelling The Enhanced Spelling of the Indonesian Language ( id, Ejaan Bahasa Indonesia yang Disempurnakan, EYD) is the spelling system used for the Indonesian language. History The Enhanced Spelling of the Indonesian Language ( id, Ejaan Bahasa Indone ...

: Jawoto; August 10, 1906 – September 24, 1992) was an Indonesian journalist and diplomat.Encyclopedia of Jakarta.
Djawoto
'' He served as Indonesia's ambassador to China and Mongolia starting in 1964.

Teacher and journalist

Djawoto became part of the Indonesian nationalist movement through the

Sarekat Islam Sarekat Islam or Syarikat Islam ( 'Islamic Association' or 'Islamic Union'; SI) was an Indonesian socio-political organization founded at the beginning of the 20th Century during the Dutch colonial era. Initially, SI served as a cooperative of ...

, one of the first mass organizations of native Indonesians which was at its height in the 1910s and early 1920s. He started working as a teacher in 1927. A friend of

Sukarno Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of ...

, Djawoto joined the

Indonesian Nationalist Party The Indonesian National Party ( id, Partai Nasional Indonesia, PNI) was the name used by several nationalist political parties in Indonesia from 1927 until the 2000s. The first PNI was established by future President Sukarno. After independence, th ...

in 1927. After 15 years as a teacher, Djawoto changed career and became a journalist instead. He worked at the

Antara Antara is an Indonesian news agency organized as a statutory corporation. It is the country's national news agency, supplying news reports to many domestic media organizations. It is the only organization authorized to distribute news material ...

news agency for a number of years and served as its chief editor from 1946 to 1964. In 1945 he was included in the Education Section of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

at the founding congress of the party. He was a member of the

Central Indonesian National Committee The Central Indonesian National Committee, ( id, Komite Nasional Indonesia Pusat) or KNIP, was a body appointed to assist the president of the newly independent Indonesia. Originally purely advisory, it later gained assumed legislative functions. ...

between 1945 and 1949. His book ''Djurnalistik dalam praktek'' ('Journalism in Practice') was published in 1960. Djawoto was a leading figure in the Union of Indonesian Journalists (PWI).

Ambassador

In 1964 he was named ambassador to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

by President Sukarno. He was one of six journalists that Sukarno appointed as ambassadors during the 1960s.

Life in exile

After the

30 September Movement The Thirtieth of September Movement ( id, Gerakan 30 September, abbreviated as G30S, also known by the acronym Gestapu for ''Gerakan September Tiga Puluh'', Thirtieth of September Movement) was a self-proclaimed organization of Indonesian Na ...

coup attempt, rumored to have been sponsored by the

Communist Party of Indonesia The Communist Party of Indonesia (Indonesian: ''Partai Komunis Indonesia'', PKI) was a communist party in Indonesia during the mid-20th century. It was the largest non-ruling communist party in the world before its violent disbandment in 1965. ...

, and the resulting purge of persons considered communists which killed hundreds of thousands, the political situation in Indonesia became unstable. The once civil government became a military regime, and the country's political allegiances, previously supporting the

East Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

, became more friendly to the West. As a result, several hundred or thousand Indonesian leftists travelling abroad were unable to return to their homeland. Djawoto, the ambassador to a communist country, remained in China and resigned his post, despite being recalled by the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the early morning of April 16, 1966, Djawoto held a press conference at which he declared that he was no longer the Indonesian ambassador. In April 1966 Djawoto was granted political asylum in China. The Indonesian government withdrew his passport. He became general secretary of the Beijing-based Afro-Asian Journalists Association. Djawoto left China and emigrated to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in 1981. Although he had not been a Communist Party member, Djawoto was not allowed to return to Indonesia.

References

* {{Authority control 1906 births 1992 deaths Indonesian journalists Ambassadors of Indonesia to Mongolia Ambassadors of Indonesia to China Indonesian exiles 20th-century journalists