Hashimoto's Jakarta trip a qualified success

Hashimoto's Jakarta trip a qualified success

By Yvonne Chang

TOKYO (Reuters): Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto's weekend
visit to Indonesia put Japan back in the forefront of efforts to
solve Asia's economic crisis.

Although he carried no new aid to Jakarta and left without
specific new assurances from President Soeharto, analysts said
Hashimoto's trip went some way towards defusing criticism of
Tokyo for not doing enough about the crisis.

Hashimoto said he was able to hold "candid" discussions with
President Soeharto in a two-hour meeting on Sunday that was the
first involving a G7 leader since Indonesia's economy went into a
nosedive last year.

It is a point Hashimoto is likely to stress at an Asia-Europe
summit next month and at a Group of Seven (G7) industrialized
nations' summit in May.

Takashi Shiraishi, a political science professor at Kyoto
University's Center for Southeast Asian Studies, said Hashimoto
left Jakarta "with something to show".

Shiraishi said: "He had to go for two reasons. One is that
Indonesia is diplomatically as well as strategically very
important for Japan.

"The other reason is U.S. pressure for Japan to play a bigger
role in the Asian crisis. It was important to show President Bill
Clinton that Japan was doing something about Indonesia."

Hashimoto's visit also positions Japan, Indonesia's biggest
creditor nation, to possibly act as a mediator if already
strained relations between Soeharto and the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) deteriorate any further.

Hashimoto set himself up for the intermediary role with his
comment to reporters at the end of the meeting that both
Indonesia and the IMF needed to show "flexibility" in working out
a bailout plan.

"Both Mr. Soeharto and I agreed it is important to promote
reforms in Indonesia based on international rules...and by
working together and in harmony with the international
community," Hashimoto said.

Japanese officials expressed relief that Soeharto at least
agreed with Hashimoto in principle on the need for reform in his
nation.

Hashimoto's visit followed a similar mission earlier in March
by former U.S. vice president Walter Mondale, who most analysts
agree failed to move Soeharto on key questions of implementation
of an IMF reform plan.

Bearing in mind the Mondale visit, Hashimoto took a gentler
"Asian Way" approach, calling Japan Indonesia's "Asian friend"
which was deeply concerned about the troubles of its neighbour.

Hashimoto said the meeting involved "emphasizing points we
agree on rather than points on which we disagree".

Hashimoto avoided passing judgment on Soeharto's new cabinet,
where the appointment of close associates and a daughter drew
charges of cronyism and were taken as a sign of reluctance to
implement drastic reforms.

"It's not for us to judge, it is for the Indonesian people to
judge," Hashimoto said.

Kazuo Mishima at Tokyo's Center for Asian Research Institute,
said Hashimoto's trip was unlikely to mean any major change in
Indonesia's relations with the IMF.

"The result was basically within my expectations. Hashimoto
was successful in that he was able to pull out comments about the
IMF from Soeharto," Mishima said.

While only time will tell if his mission helped Indonesia and
the IMF's cause, Hashimoto can at least claim, as he said: "At
least we did not part with a grimace on our faces."