Australia Knocks on the Door, and Southeast Asia Hears 
International Herald Tribune
January 16, 1996
Philip Bowring 

Australia's relations with Southeast Asia have taken an extraordinary leap forward in the past month in developments that could have a lasting impact on the region. This week Prime Minister Paul Keating visits Malaysia for talks with the most outspoken critic of his country and its aspirations to be regarded as an Asian nation, Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad.

The visit comes within a month of the surprise Dec. 18 signing of a security treaty between Australia and Indonesia. The treaty, which took Australians and ASEAN members alike by complete surprise, was the result of direct links between Mr. Keating and President Suharto, with foreign ministries left out of the loop. The speed and secrecy left Australia's vocal anti-Jakarta and pro-East Timor independence lobby dumbstruck. Now the often acerbic Mr. Keating is entering the den of the equally outspoken Mr. Mahathir.

In 1993 there was a minor crisis in relations when Mr. Keating called Mr. Mahathir "recalcitrant" for his negative attitude toward the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group. Mr. Mahathir has not let up on his criticism of Australians as "un-Asian."

Some cynical Australian may see Mr. Keating's initiatives as designed to bolster his flagging domestic political fortunes. However, the implications are quite profound.

The treaty with Indonesia may be a brief document with little practical value, but it is full of symbolism. It effectively acknowledges that Australia now views Indonesia as an ally rather than a potential enemy in any future regional conflict.

Sparsely populated Australia has long feared a search for lebensraum by a nation with 10 times its population. It joined America in Vietnam in hope, as recently published official documents reveal, of gaining U.S. support in the event of a conflict with Indonesia.

Both sides have emphasized that the Suharto-Keating pact is not aimed at China, or indeed any particular issue. It does not even have the practical cooperation of the five-power defense arrangements that Australia has with Malaysia, Singapore, Britain and New Zealand, which date back to the days when Indonesia was perceived as a potential enemy.

Still, it is no secret that Indonesia's main strategic worry is China, with its sweeping claims over the South China Sea and the buildup of its force projection capability. So an Australian defense link to ASEAN's major member is a sign of the times, and overrides differences on matters like democracy and human rights.

Nothing so significant will come out of Mr. Keating's Malaysian visit. But despite the often carping political rhetoric, the two countries have more in common — not excluding lifestyle — than is often supposed, as well as social and trade contact. At the more difficult international level, it is possible that both sides are beginning to move toward an accommodation on Australia's role in the region.

Mr. Mahathir remains a staunch promoter of the East Asia Economic Caucus as an all-Asian (excluding Austra-lia) alternative to the APEC that Australia fathered. At the recent ASEAN summit in Bangkok, other ASEAN members hitherto cool toward the caucus took it seriously. But Mr. Mahathir is well aware that exclusion of Australia has not helped sell the caucus to other ASEAN members.

The Australians cannot have forgotten that their original APEC proposal excluded the North Americans — and so was like the caucus plus themselves and the New Zealanders.

Thus, while Australia is unlikely publicly to temper its enthusiasm for APEC, for predominantly white, culturally European nations to be acceptable in Asian organizations probably means downplaying relations with their trans-Pacific cousins.

Copyright © 2006 The International Herald Tribune