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.