Aussie, Indonesia advised to abandon suspicion

JAKARTA (JP): Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Gareth Evans says Indonesia and Australia should abandon the long-held suspicion that they pose a threat to each other.

There is no need to give even a moment's reflection to the possibility of either of the two neighboring countries being a threat to each other, he said during a conference on Saturday.

"There has never been any logic in that possibility and, if this be arithmetically possible, there is even less now," he said.

The conference entitled Australia and the New World Order was jointly organized by the Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific (RIAP) and Indonesian Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Evans said that in the past security would have been the most important element in determining the perception of the two neighbors' relationship, at least on the Australian side.

Evans told the conference, held as part of the huge Australia Today Indonesia '94 promotion, that even with the current peace in the Asia-Pacific region, both nations should guard against certain possible contingencies that could disrupt the situation.

Evans said that now Jakarta and Canberra, unlike several years ago, can discuss "all these difficult issues" like human rights in a frank and open manner.

He acknowledged that differences of opinion and sensitive issues were bound to arise from time to time between Australia and Indonesia, which he considered "most unusual neighbors".

"But it is much better to talk about them ... than to take any other more strident approaches. That's the attitude which we very much have in Australia these days," he said.

He said both governments were currently exerting such a great deal of effort in economic and political cooperation, "that the ship of state couldn't in the future be blown off course by minor scores of disagreements on particular issues ... which is where we are now".

He added that if Australia wanted itself to be heard in a productive way, it should not exercise a "strident and aggressive" attitude and apply "Western values and doing so in a patronizing way" because this would be counter-productive.

"We are cautious these days about the way we say things -- not about what we say," Evans said.

"It is understanding that how you say things and how you express them can be very important and very negative if you can't get it right," he added.

Juwono Sudarsono, former dean of the School of Social and Political Science of the University of Indonesia, told the press on a separate occasion that he shared Evans' opinions.

He said that what other countries said to the Indonesian government did have an impact which was often fruitful.

"What's as important is the way it is said ... it would be more effective if a concern about an issue was made quietly rather than on the stage or in front of the media," he said.

Indonesian Ambassador to Australia Sabam Siagian, suggested that there should be more people on both sides that feel committed to reducing the "misunderstanding" and "ignorance" about each other.

"The reason is simple ... we are destined to be partners on the basis of a symmetry of geopolitical interests," he said.

Sabam pointed out the need for the two, as neighbors, to learn to be patient with each other and to spend time listening to each other.

Recalling his experiences in Australia, when he received critical statements on human rights violations in Indonesia, Sabam acknowledged that the improvement of the situation depended mainly on committed Indonesians who believe in humanitarian values.

"Despite the difficulties faced by any developing country, I am optimistic that gradually a just and humane society will be established in Indonesia," he said.

Desmond Ball of the Strategic and Defense Studies Centre of the Australian National University in Canberra, who reviewed the Indonesian-Australian regional security relationship, pointed out, however, that considerable mutual suspicion still remains between the two countries.

Although Evans, during his speech, expressed confidence that Indonesia was now no longer viewed as a threat by Australians, Ball showed that starting from 1975, when East Timor integrated with Indonesia, up to the end of the 1980's, many Australians considered Indonesia a possible threat to Australia.

He said that as recently as 1993, a national survey revealed that some 57 percent of Australian voters believed that Indonesia would pose a security threat to Australia within 10 to 15 years. (pwn)