INDONESIA PREVIEWS BALI ASEAN MINISTERIAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 004755

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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

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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.

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Double Feature In Ubud
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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
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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

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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
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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