On diplomacy

On diplomacy

I would like to refer to the article of Graham Gerard Ong
published in The Jakarta Post, March 9 -- Diplomacy can calm
troubled sea (from The Straits Times), regarding the "Ambalat"
dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia. I would like to point out
that there are some important facts that Ong seems unaware of, or
fails to consider:
* Before Petronas awarded the Ambalat block to Shell on Feb. 16,
according to the Indonesian Department of Foreign Affairs, the
government had several times asked the Malaysian government to
discuss the Sulawesi sea dispute in a diplomatic manner. Each
time, they did not receive a positive response.

This meant Indonesia had actually tried to solve the dispute
earlier through diplomacy. Furthermore, the Malaysian authorities
had also committed an act of provocation by detaining and beating
several Indonesian workers that were working to built a
lighthouse in Karang Unarang, claiming they were trespassing onto
Malaysian territory; an area that is actually Indonesian
territory.

Facing this situation, it is natural for any sovereign country
including Indonesia, to act to protect its territory and its
citizens by any means necessary. Considering these facts, it is
unfair to regard Indonesia's moves, especially those of the Navy,
as "gunboat diplomacy".
* There is an element of truth in saying that the Indonesian move
has diminished its credibility as the initiator of the ASEAN
Security Community and contradicts fundamental ASEAN principles.
However, there are also other bilateral disputes that could be
regarded as not-in-line with any ASEAN mechanisms or principles,
such as the water dispute between Singapore and Malaysia and the
border dispute between Thailand and Myanmar.

Therefore, we can conclude that there is an institutional
weakness in ASEAN that makes it difficult for the organization to
cope with bilateral conflict among its members. This is not the
responsibility of Indonesia alone but the responsibility of all
ASEAN members.
* Last, but not least, I would like to point out that the article
is undermined by the speculative conclusion of the writer, which
is based on unsound facts and unrelated variables, such as
relating Indonesia's response to the dispute to a domestic power
struggle within the Indonesian Military, or his suggestion that
these recent events will tarnish President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono's international credibility. Ong should produce valid
evidence to back these claims up, otherwise they are just
speculation.

Finally, without any intention to sound "jingoistic" or like a
"narrow-minded" nationalist, I hope this letter will help the
writer to perceive the issue more proportionally and objectively.

VITTO RAFAEL TAHAR, Jakarta