On May 20th, 2002 (April 9th, 2002 in the lunar calendar), the Republic of East Timor * was formally established. At 0: 00 local time on May 20th, 2002 (23: 00 Beijing time on May 19th), the two-and-a-half-year administration of East Timor by the United Nations officially ended. As the UN flag slowly lowered and the East Timor flag slowly rose, the first new country in this century, the Republic of * of East Timor, was officially born... In 1642, Portuguese colonists invaded Timor Island. At the same time, Dutch colonists also occupied the major islands around Timor Island. In 1859, Portugal and the Netherlands reached a treaty to "carve up Timor Island". The eastern part of Timor Island was placed under Portuguese rule and the western part was placed under the Netherlands. In 1975, Portuguese colonists withdrew from East Timor. In December of the same year, Indonesian troops occupied East Timor. In 1976, Indonesia unilaterally included East Timor in Indonesian territory and regarded it as its 27th province. During Indonesian rule, about 200,000 East Timorese were killed by Indonesian military repression and famine. In 1978, Australia recognized Indonesia's rule over East Timor, becoming the first and only country in the world to recognize Indonesia's rule over East Timor. Most of the international community, including the United Nations, do not recognize Indonesia's rule over East Timor. In 1998, the Asian financial crisis forced former Indonesian President Suharto, who was in internal and external difficulties, to step down. In January 1999, the new President Habibie suddenly changed his policy towards East Timor and announced that East Timor could be allowed to become independent if East Timor was unwilling to accept autonomy. Habibie's move caused a new round of bloody conflict in Indonesia. On August 30, 1999, under the supervision of the United Nations, a referendum was held in East Timor. 450,000 East Timorese voted. Among them, 78.5% opposed East Timor as an autonomous province of Indonesia, and believed that Indonesia's 23-year military rule should be ended. Due to the conflict caused by the referendum, in October of that year, the United Nations peacekeeping force was stationed in East Timor. On April 14, 2002, Gusmão was elected as the first president of East Timor. On May 20, 2002, East Timor became an independent state.