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.