Yet another low

Yet another low

Whatever one may say about the deficiencies of Abdurrahman
Wahid's young presidency, promoting good relations with other
countries is certainly not one of them. In the six months that he
has been in power, Abdurrahman has visited more countries than
many observers can remember -- most probably more than his
predecessors Sukarno or Soeharto visited in the entirety of their
decades-long presidencies.

Touring foreign countries for the purpose of establishing
goodwill and winning support has been one of President
Abdurrahman Wahid's most notable achievements so far. That being
the case, one cannot help noting, however, that to this day a
most conspicuous blank has been left in the long list of
countries which the President has honored, or intends to honor,
with a state visit.

That gap, of course, belongs to Australia, one of Indonesia's
closest and most important neighbors and somewhere the President
has been intending to visit since the first few months after he
ascended to the presidency in October last year. Initial plans
for such a visit, however, faltered due to Indonesia's strained
relations with Australia in the wake of remarks made by
Australian government leaders after the Timor upheaval, which
Jakarta regarded as "arrogant" and "offensive".

Jakarta, though, played down the tension at the time, saying
that a more urgent agenda compelled the President to make his
Australian tour at a later date, which would have been next
month. But again, diplomatic tension is putting a spoke in the
wheel of the President's Australian itinerary. This time, due, at
least in part, to espionage activities in East Nusa Tenggara
involving an Australian soldier serving under the UN in
neighboring East Timor.

When the President will make his Australian tour is for the
moment uncertain, though it seems that plans are being -- wisely
-- kept alive. Foreign minister Alwi Shihab, speaking to the
media on Monday, merely said it had to occur at a moment "when
relations were at their best". Last week, though, the Indonesian
foreign ministry expressed serious concern over the spying
incident and warned of cracks in the normalization of relations
between Jakarta and Canberra in its wake.

From the Indonesian point of view, then, there is a valid
reason for the President to once again delay his long-intended
visit to such a close and important neighbor as Australia. In the
words of Foreign minister Alwi Shihab: "our foreign policy must
be mindful of the desires of the people. I believe that what has
occurred has caused something that feels rather uncomfortable in
the hearts of some people."

In reality, though, it seems to be not so far off the truth to
say that this latest incident between Indonesia and Australia has
left, so far, not much of an impression on the Indonesian people
as a whole. It could be that the point has been reached where
Indonesians can now take ordinary frictions between the two
countries for granted. That would be fortunate, because, as has
been said often enough in this column to the point of becoming
boring, it is in the interest not only of Indonesia and
Australia, but for the Asia-Pacific region as whole, that Jakarta
and Canberra do their utmost to maintain good relations.

Whether they like it or not, geopolitical considerations
ordain that Jakarta and Canberra rely on each other in order to
maximize their countries', as well as the region's, potentials.
It is a good thing, therefore, that the government has been wise
enough not to let this latest incident be blown up out of
proportion.

Unwelcome as the spying incident may admittedly be to many
Indonesians, the least that this country needs at this point of
crisis is for some myopic hotheads to come and start stirring up
a bilateral crisis that does nothing but harm to the longer-term
interests of both this country and its people.