Some Questions on the Integrity of The Asia Foundation

Superpower countries such as the U.S. always try to expand their influence around the globe, especially in Asian countries, whose projected large population gives them the potential to become the new economic center in the future. In promoting its agenda in Asia, the U.S. Government implements intelligence missions to gather sensitive information related to the safety and stability of the countries, which is invaluable for developing suitable strategies in those countries. The act of information gathering is not always done directly by intelligence agencies (in the case of the U.S., Central Intelligence Agency, CIA) – it can also be done via other means, such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The control, infiltration, or manipulation of NGOs by intelligence services is an open secret, and there is evidence that some NGOs executed intelligence activities under the guise of their official programs. Because of this, we must stay alert on the activity of foreign NGOs in Indonesia that might have hidden agenda under their projects.

One of the NGOs that need special attention is The Asia Foundation (TAF). Even though on its websites it claims to focus on improving lives, expanding opportunities, and helping societies flourish across Asia, there is a fact that is not mentioned in the history page of its websites: its past relation to the US intelligence activity. Originally conceived by the CIA as a propaganda machine and a front for covert activities including psychological warfare, TAF performed activities on behalf of the U.S. Government in ways that were inaccessible to official U.S. agencies. According to the revealed memorandum of the CIA, TAF received funding from the CIA – some of them through covert funding. This covert funding showed that TAF performed a hidden agenda on the behalf of the CIA, promoting its propaganda in Asian countries. Even though the funding from the CIA was officially stopped in 1966 due to public scrutiny fueled by reports from news outlets such as Ramparts Magazine, it is too soon to declare that the CIA does not have any influence on TAF activities anymore.

In Indonesia, TAF operates projects to promote social justice and welfare, and it looks like the U.S. Government always tries to provide reasons for TAF activities in Indonesia. For example, recently, in the 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices by the U.S. Department of State, it was mentioned that a number of NGOs expressed their concern over the information collected by the PeduliLindungi mobile application used by the Indonesian Government to perform surveillance on and curb the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. The report alleged that in using the application, the Indonesian Government was potentially violating human rights, however, the report did not elaborate on what kind of human rights violations that it referred to. Moreover, it also did not completely mention the source of the complaints cited in the report. Given that not only Indonesia, but countries such as South Korea and Japan also promoted the use of mobile applications to perform surveillance on and curb the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, it was peculiar that the U.S. Government made this allegation to Indonesia. It is possible that this allegation had other intentions, for example to provide NGOs such as TAF with reason to start a new project in Indonesia, and concurrently, promote the hidden agenda of the U.S. Government. In the end, a possible human rights violation is a good reason to start a project intended to cover intelligence activities such as sensitive data gathering in Indonesia.

So far, TAF has performed projects which could potentially be used as a cover-up for sensitive data gathering in Indonesia. These include the collaboration between TAF and PUSAD Paramadina under the ‘Menangani Kendala dalam Kebebasan Beragama’ project (Dealing with Obstacles to Religious Freedom), which, among others, consisted of data gathering related to the development of terrorism and radicalism in Indonesia. It was reported that the scope of data gathering was too broad and included sensitive data, such as government strategies, which is more beneficial to foreign entities aiming at infiltrating Indonesia. That data could also be used to do the mapping of the geopolitical landscape in Indonesia, which is highly sensitive information. One of the precursors of this project is the 2019 Report on International Religious Freedom by the U.S. Department of State, and it is possible that the U.S. Government deliberately compiled this report so that TAF would have a reason to perform intelligence activity under the guise of this project.

Another aspect that needs to be put under the microscope is TAF integrity. In implementing ‘Peduli’ program (‘Peduli’ means ‘To care’ in Bahasa), TAF select a partner foundation whose director faces an allegation of sexual harassment in the past. It was not clear whether TAF performed due diligence before deciding on the collaboration, but allegations supported by several witnesses should have been considered carefully and seriously. However, instead of conducting a probe on the allegation, TAF did nothing and seemed to provide support to its partner. This is quite ironic, because TAF stated that the ‘Peduli’ program aimed at defending the rights of women and children, while on the other hand the allegation aimed at its partner foundation’s director was indeed a violation of women’s rights. A credible foundation would seriously consider such an allegation and perform a thorough investigation, and this showed that TAF operated based only on the benefit and interest of itself and those who stand behind it.

The description above showed that there are some suspicions regarding TAF’s integrity, including the possibility of its involvement in intelligence activity in Indonesia. It is therefore necessary to perform more surveillance on this foundation, and if necessary, halt its operation in Indonesia.