INDONESIA PREVIEWS BALI ASEAN MINISTERIAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 004755 SIPDIS SIPDIS SECSTATE FOR EAP/MTS, EAP/MTL, AND EAP/RSP E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/13/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV ASEAN PHUM BM ID SUBJECT: INDONESIA PREVIEWS BALI ASEAN MINISTERIAL REF: STATE 56185 (BURMA: DEMARCHE ON UPCOMING FOREIGN MINISTERS MEETING) Classified By: B. Lynn Pascoe, Ambassador. Reason: 1.4 (b, d) ¶1. (C) Summary. On April 13, we urged Indonesia, together with its ASEAN partners, to press Burma on human rights and democratization at the upcoming ASEAN Ministerial Meeting Retreat in Bali. We urged further that ASEAN make its concerns on these issues public, as it did at its Kuala Lumpur summit last December. The Indonesians said they fully shared our frustration regarding Burma, and recalled that the Secretary had pressed this matter forcefully during her visit SIPDIS to Jakarta last month. The GOI expressed disappointment over Burma's cancellation of a Burmese-Indonesian Joint Bilateral Commission, announced during President Yudhoyono's March 1-2 visit to Rangoon, that was to have met on the margins of the Bali Ministerial. Our GOI interlocutor also previewed the meeting of the ASEAN Eminent Persons Group working on the ASEAN Charter. The GOI seeks the Charter, and the EPG meeting will prove the focus of President Yudhoyono's participation in the Bali meeting. The Ambassador and visiting Assistant Secretary of Defense Rodman also raised Burma in their April 13 meeting with Foreign Ministry Secretary General Imron Cotan (septel). End Summary. SIPDIS Double Feature In Ubud -------------- ¶2. (SBU) We met April 13 with Ade Parmo Sarwono, Deputy Director for ASEAN Political and Security Affairs, at Indonesia's Department of Foreign Affairs, for a readout of preparations for the April 17 - 21 ASEAN meetings in Ubud, Bali. Two sets of meetings will run concurrently. Starting April 17, ASEAN's Eminent Persons Group (EPG) will meet to discuss the proposed ASEAN Charter. At the same time, Foreign Ministers will hold their ASEAN Ministerial Meeting Retreat. ¶3. (SBU) Parmo made it clear that the GOI, as host, still seeks to finalize some important aspects of the events. The EPG, he said, would meet representatives of civil society groups such as the ASEAN Peoples' Association and the ASEAN Interparliamentary Association. The EPG meeting, he said, would provide the focus of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's participation in the meetings. Indonesia takes a strong interest in the ASEAN Charter, and SBY would deliver a speech to the EPG outlining his ideas for the charter. SBY will host a joint lunch for the EPG and ASEAN Foreign Ministers on April 20. ¶4. (SBU) Parmo fretted that Ministers' conflicting schedules will make for a compressed Ministerial meeting. It will consist, he said, of a working dinner on the 19th and a half-day retreat on the 20th, a closed session with informal rules and no joint statement. Parmo said that the main topics likely would consist of ASEAN's position on East Asia Summit participation (including Russia' problematic bid for membership),Ministers' inputs to the ASEAN Charter, next steps in enhanced ASEAN cooperation, and Burma. Burma -------------- ¶5. (C) On Burma, Parmo said that the Ministers eagerly anticipated Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar's briefing on his trip to Rangoon, especially since no written report or statement existed on the event. Parmo noted that Indonesia felt once again annoyed at Burma, since the Joint Bilateral Commission, proposed by Burma and agreed by SBY during his March 1-2 visit to Rangoon, would not meet in Bali as originally planned. The Burmese side had "postponed" it. Parmo said that this commission could have served as a venue for the GOI to advise the SPDC on how to transition to a more open system. ¶6. (C) Poloff delivered demarche contained reftel, stressing in particular our hope for a public statement along the lines of last December's ASEAN statement in Kuala Lumpur. (On April 12, visiting Assistant Secretary of Defense Rodman raised our concerns on Burma with a senior DFA official, reported septel.) We said that the U.S. intends to engage ASEAN more intensively, but that the nature of the Burmese regime creates complications for us that can only get worse if it remains intransigent. Parmo responded that the Secretary had JAKARTA 00004755 002 OF 002 made U.S. views on Burma more than clear to Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda during her March 14-15 visit to Jakarta. Minister Wirajuda had not yet decided to make a statement to the press; this would depend to some extent of the dynamics of the retreat. SBY, Parmo said, would not hold a press conference but might make remarks to reporters either on the margins on the EPG meeting or upon return to Jakarta. Comment -------------- ¶7. (C) GOI frustration with the Burmese regime has reached a new level. The Indonesians love bilateral commissions, and SBY had touted creation of the Burmese-Indonesian body as a significant step forward. Its postponement by the SPDC has embarrassed the Indonesians. Although a statement along the lines of the one in KL might prove less likely due to the "closed retreat" format of the Bali meeting, Minister Wirajuda, as host, could raise his concerns publicly following the ministerial. PASCOE