Megawati's East Asian tour

Megawati's East Asian tour

It is a pity that with only two days to go, a few details of
President Megawati Soekarnoputri's nine-day East Asian tour
remain uncertain.

After all, the invitation for the visit was extended when
Megawati was still vice president. Given the political muddle
that prevailed then, it is quite likely it was the Indonesian
side that caused the delay.

The President was originally scheduled to depart Jakarta for
Beijing on Monday, March 25, but according to the Indonesian
ambassador to Beijing, A.A. Kustia, the President has had to
change her departure to Sunday, March 24, "to adjust to President
Jiang Zhemin's schedule".

The President, he said, will in all probability pay a visit to
some of China's major centers of economic and industrial
development, such as Hunan in the southern part of the country
and Sichuan in the country's west, which is a high-tech
development zone.

Without doubt, the President and her entourage can learn much
from the Chinese models of agricultural and technological
development.

Of more immediate importance to Indonesia, however, is what
can be accomplished at the planned talks between the leaders of
the two nations.

For the millions of Indonesians hit by years of crisis and
want, these talks could well be the measure by which Megawati's
tour is judged.

Megawati's visit to China this time comes rather close on the
heels of similar visits by groups of Indonesian businessmen and
officials to promote economic cooperation and trade between the
two countries, especially in oil from Indonesia.

No doubt, the President aims to support these goals during her
visit by opening Indonesian consulates general in the cities of
Guangzhou and Shanghai.

Two other points on the President's agenda are brief visits to
North Korea and South Korea. While these visits are billed as
being aimed at strengthening the bilateral ties between Indonesia
and the two Koreas, Indonesia, as Minister of Foreign Affairs
Hassan Wirayuda explained, "takes an interest in having peace
established on the Korean peninsula".

Indonesia, therefore, will during the President's visit try to
work toward a rapprochement, or at least a dialog, between the
two Koreas.

"The President's present tour," in the words of the foreign
minister, "must therefore be seen as one complete and unbroken
working visit."

The last leg of the President's tour will take her to India,
with whom Indonesia has few problems to speak of. Still,
President Megawati might do well to cautiously mention to the
Indian leaders the importance for the entire region of
maintaining peace and stability.

Unfortunately, there is no saying when, if ever, the
continuing frictions between Hindus and Muslims and between India
and Pakistan will end.

As Indonesians know from their own experience lately, this is
no easy task to accomplish. But President Megawati will certainly
do India and the region a great service if she can somehow
persuade the Indian leaders to calm sectarian sentiments.