US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Jakarta today is
expected to highlight Indonesia’s leading role in Asean, especially in
moderating tensions in the South China Sea between China and several Asean
member nations, an expert has said.
“The US sees Indonesia as a key
and important player in the South China Sea issue. Indonesia is not a claimant,
but has put a lot of effort in harmonising Asean,” University of Indonesia
international relations expert Andi Widjajanto said.
Andi also said that it would be
in the US interest to see a consolidated Southeast Asia when facing an
assertive China, especially following President Barack Obama administration’s
efforts to “pivot” US foreign policy to Asia, after long wars in Afghanistan
and Iraq.
Andi said that the Clinton visit
would not be related to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec). “The
visit will be aimed at discussing the growing tensions in the South China Sea.
On such a very short visit, I don’t see any urgent Indonesia-US issues being
discussed, except for frictions in the South China Sea,” he said.
As part of her six nation
Asia-Pacific tour, Clinton is expected to stop in Jakarta on Monday. Indonesia
is her second destination, after Cook Islands. Her itinerary will include stops
in China, Timor Leste, Brunei Darussalam and Russia for the Apec forum in
Vladivostok.
Victoria Nuland, the spokesperson
for the US Department of State, said in a statement on the department’s website
that Clinton “will discuss with senior Indonesian officials the US-Indonesia
Comprehensive Partnership and our respective engagements on regional global
issues”.
Clinton is set to hold bilateral
talks with Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa on Monday evening.
Presidential spokesman Julian
Aldrin Pasha said that Clinton would meet with President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono on Tuesday before her departure for Beijing.
Asean member nations have been
sharply divided on China’s expansion and conflicting claims in the South China
Sea. In Phnom Penh in July, Asean failed to reach consensus on how to handle
the disputes, resulting in the first time the association failed to issue a
closing communique in its 45-year history.
On other regional issues, Clinton
is expected to discuss upcoming plans for the East Asia Summit (EAS) and
Indonesia’s approach to critical issues such as building institutions like the
EAS and the Asean Regional Forum.
Bilaterally, the ministers are
expected to discuss preparations for an upcoming joint commission meeting in
Washington later this month.
The joint commission is an annual
forum formed after the launch of RI-US Comprehensive Partnership in 2010. The
forum, chaired by the ministers, is expected to review a wide range regional
and multilateral issues affecting US and Indonesian interests.
International human rights
watchdogs, meanwhile, have urged Clinton to raise concerns about the plight of
religious minorities when meeting with Indonesian officials.
New York-based Human Rights Watch
said Indonesia had failed to adequately address the increasing incidence of
violence against religious minorities, particularly Ahmadiyah followers,
Christians and Shia Muslims in Java and Sumatra.
“Clinton should press the
Indonesian government to take concrete steps to address the rising religious
intolerance,” the group’s Asia advocacy director, John Sifton, stated in a
release received by The Jakarta Post yesterday.
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