Welcome, wariness greet PM Howard

Welcome, wariness greet PM Howard

Ian Timberlake, Agence France-Presse, Jakarta

Words of welcome mixed with wariness across Asia on Monday as Australia's neighbors reacted to Prime Minister John Howard's re- election.

While some countries look forward to tighter economic co- operation with Australia, others express concern about what they see as Howard's interventionist foreign policy.

Howard's crushing victory in Saturday's election propelled him to a fourth term in office.

Reaction was more cautious in Indonesia and Malaysia, where observers expressed hope Howard might modify an interventionist foreign policy seen as too supportive of the United States.

"Under John Howard there is a perception in this country (that) Howard just follows America," said Soedjati Djiwandono, of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta.

Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-populated country, has had a sometimes tense relationship with its neighbor. Tension peaked in 1999 when Australia led a multinational force into East Timor after the Indonesian military and its militias unleashed a scorched earth policy following the territory's vote for independence.

"I think the most important characteristic of Howard's foreign policy is being a deputy sheriff to the United States," said Kusnanto Anggoro, a lecturer at the University of Indonesia.

"Hopefully there will be some more understanding from Prime Minister Howard to simply redirect or change the foreign policy. If that happens then I think it will be OK," he said.

"It's back to square one, unless Howard changes his foreign policy," agreed Muhammad Agus Yusoff, a political scientist with the National University of Malaysia.

In August, Indonesia's foreign ministry expressed concern about Australia's plan to equip its F/A-18 Hornet warplanes with new long-range air-to-surface missiles. The ministry called it an "offensive capability" not a defensive one.

In September, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer was forced to allay regional concerns after Howard said he would not hesitate to launch a pre-emptive strike on a terrorist base overseas.

After Malaysia took exception to the comments Downer specifically ruled out any such attacks on Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia or Singapore.

Howard has already reappointed Downer to the foreign policy portfolio and announced that he himself would meet soon with Indonesia's president-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Soedjati said Susilo will bring a more "well-mannered, more sensitive" approach than President Megawati Soekarnoputri to relations with Australia.

China said on Monday it was willing to work with a Howard government and would make efforts to bring bilateral relations to a new level.

"We are willing to make common efforts with the new Australian government to continue to push forward toward future developments in the comprehensive and cooperative relations between the two nations," China's foreign ministry said in a statement.

In Bangkok, Thailand's foreign ministry said the kingdom's close relationship with Howard's administration should continue.

In July, the two countries signed a free trade agreement which Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said showed Australia's increasing economic involvement with Southeast Asia. It was the first deal of its kind between a developed and developing nation in the region.