A busy foreign minister

A busy foreign minister

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda seems to be the
busiest minister in President Megawati Soekarnoputri's Cabinet
these days. After a fence-mending trip to Kuala Lumpur and
Singapore, he is now in Bali to attend a series of international
meetings. On Monday he led the Indonesian delegation in the first
bilateral talks with an independent East Timor. That conference
will be continued and expanded on Tuesday to a triangular meeting
between Indonesia, East Timor and Australia.

These meetings constitute a welcome development since they
reflect a sense of realism on the part of Indonesia in
recognizing that the birth of an independent East Timor is a fact
of life. In a conference organized by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs in Bandung in July 2000, a paper was submitted which
urged the Indonesian government to adopt a long term view in
developing relations with an independent East Timor, meaning that
Indonesia should assist East Timor to become a viable state and a
good neighbor on the island of Timor.

A politically unstable East Timor with a stagnant economy
could become a cause of trouble on Indonesia's flank that could
also affect other areas in the surroundings. On the other hand a
stable and prosperous East Timor could become a good partner for
Indonesia to promote growth in this country's southeastern parts.

Indonesia's contribution in assisting an independent East
Timor could be the promotion of the Indonesian language by
providing teachers and instruction material and offering East
Timor a team of experts in the field of developing that country's
offshore energy resources and mining potentials.

Dili, at present, has to depend on Australian, European and
American experts recruited by the United Nations Transitional
Administration for East Timor (UNTAET), which is not necessarily
in the long-term interest of the country in question. A
trilateral cooperation scheme including Australia is of course a
logical outcome of that country's role in the transition period
towards East Timor's independence. However, we have to remain
realistic and should make sure that an independent East Timor
does not become Australia's strategic beach-head in the
Indonesian geopolitical sphere. Overall, Indonesia possesses more
advantageous assets that would eventually cause East Timor to
look more to Indonesia than Australia.

Meanwhile, the concept of the international conference on
illegal people smuggling, which is to be co-hosted by Indonesia
and Australia and will be officially opened on Wednesday by
President Megawati Soekarnoputri, has become rather different
from the idea as it was first conceived in early December. The
collapse of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and the successful
recent United Nations conference in Tokyo on assisting
Afghanistan has rendered the problem -- of Afghan refugees --
less urgent. Of course, the convening of an international
conference on the displacement of people by force majeure remains
justifiable. After all, the problem seems to be a perennial one,
given the instability of the international situation.

However, when Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda proposed this
idea to his Australian counterpart, Alexander Downer, in early
December, public relations-wise Indonesia, at that time, seemed
to be in an awkward position. Hassan was not only accused of
allowing his territory to be used as a jumping-off point for
refugees originating from South Asia and the Middle East to enter
Australia illegally, but also of permitting certain people to
profit from the human trafficking.

Australia, at that time, appeared to be standing on the higher
moral ground. At present, the situation is somewhat different.
Prime Minister John Howard has had to defend himself against an
active opposition in the Australian parliament following reports
in the media that many of the pictures of refugees throwing their
children into the sea were doctored and used as a tool during the
November political campaigns.

Furthermore, Australia's Governor-General Peter Hollingworth,
a former Anglican Church archbishop in Brisbane, has had to
defend himself against accusations of covering up cases of sexual
abuse committed by a priest in his archdiocese. In addition there
were also reports about incidents in the detention center for
illegal immigrants in Woomera. Because of all these developments,
public relations-wise, Australia's position on the eve of the
Bali international conference is not as favorable as it was.

Whatever the case may be, Indonesia, as a host, should
maximize the opportunity offered by the Bali conference, which
will be attended by representatives of more than 30 countries
from the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. It is to the
advantage of Foreign Minister Hassan that despite the existing
hurdles that still have to be overcome by Jakarta, Indonesia with
its vast potential is still an attractive country that deserves
the world's attention.