The Lippo Group's ploy of weakening—before buying back—Bank Lippo resembles the Dutch colonial government's tac-tics of dividing and conquering the (Indonesian) archipelago. Basically, the object to be won must be made "weak" first before being conquered. Or robbed, as capital market analyst Lin Che Wei puts it. Or loot, seize, annex, depending on the level of cheating and violence.

Based on news reports for the past two weeks, clearly