Jakarta - Diplomatic documents recently declassified and released by the Japanese government show that in 1964 President Sukarno had asked Japanese Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda to send a peacekeeping mission to monitor a cease-fire between Indonesia and Malaysia along their border on Borneo.
The documents appear to show Sukarno was ready to pull back from his “Konfrontasi” policy— at least as far as his bitter rivalry with then-Malaya was concerned. Since 1961, Sukarno had opposed any British-backed consolidation of several kingdoms on the Malayan peninsula and parts of Borneo into what is now Malaysia.
Sukarno accused Britain of trying to set up a puppet regime, prolonging its presence in the region, and threatening the sovereignty of Indonesia.
Indonesia responded in April 1963, before the consolidation was completed in September that year, by ordering a series of guerilla-style military assaults and sabotage against British forces in Sarawak and Sabah. Agents were also dispatched to spread anti-Malaysian propaganda.
So began the “Konfrontasi” policy. Over the next three years, Indonesian Special Forces and joint British-Australian commando regiment of the Special Air Service were involved in a series of clashes on Malaysian soil. More than 2,000 soldiers` lives were lost in the fighting.
According to Kyodo news service, the declassified documents reveal that Ikeda, in an effort to broker peace, met with Sukarno in Tokyo in January 1964 and urged him to withdraw his forces. Sukarno, the dossier said, agreed to withdraw only if Japan took part in overseeing a cease-fire.
Ikeda, whose country only two decades earlier had surrendered in World War II, replied it would be better to organize a joint-civilian monitoring mission involving other countries, including Thailand, Kyodo reported.
The conflict between Indonesia and Malaysia eventually ended in 1966 as Suharto was losing his grip on power.
Taufik Abdullah, a senior historian at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences said stability in the region was of great importance to Japan.
“Japan helped rebuild Indonesia through a World War II-style compensation plan, such as the building of infrastructure, and Japanese companies already had substantial investments in Indonesia,” Taufik said.
“Indonesia`s economy was then starting to grow, especially with foreign investment here, but Sukarno was too preoccupied with Malaysia and his ambitions to annex West Irian” Papua.
Source:
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com (December 23, 2008)