Malaysia and Indonesia

Abstract

M Of ALAYSIA WAS CREATED with the object of promoting political stability in a strategically important area and establishing a stronger barrier against the southward penetration of Chinese Communist influence. Yet even before it was formally launched Malaysia had become a major cause of international friction in Southeast Asia and a focus of increasingly anxious concern for several other countries, including Australia and the United States. It was the incorporation of Sarawak and North Borneo (Sabah) into the new Federation which brought first the Philippines and then Indonesia to oppose its formation. Their opposition has been continuous except for a brief respite in July and August i963 (just prior to Malaysia's formal establishment), when it seemed possible that the Manila conference of Indonesian, Malayan, and Philippine leaders might lead to mutual cooperation through the creation of Maphilindo'-a loose, vaguely defined confederation of the three countries. But a sharp dispute soon arose over how one of the central features of the Manila accords should be carried out; plans for setting up the confederation were shelved, and Indonesia and the Philippines resumed their opposition to Malaysia. Indonesia's confrontation became increasingly militant, its announced objective being to crush Malaysia. This opposition has been directed against the British as well as the Malaysian government, for many Indonesians are convinced that Kuala Lumpur is still largely controlled by London. This partly accounts for the sacking in September i963 of Britain's Djakarta Embassy and the subsequent take-overs (inspired and led by Indonesian Communists) of many British properties in Indonesia. These actions were partially checked by President Soekarno and the anti-Communist Indonesian army; but both the President and army leaders have shown throughout the Malaysia dispute an attitude quite as anti-British as that of the Communists. What most alarms and antagonizes the British and Malaysian Governments are the border attacks and guerrilla activities sponsored by the Indonesian army. Special training and arms have been provided on an increasing scale to Indonesian army personnel and to disaffected people from Sarawak and Sabah, who have probed into these Borneo areas of Malaysia from bases in Indonesian Borneo. This situation has forced Britain to dig deep into her army reserves in an effort to screen the thousand-mile jungle and mountain border between Malaysian and Indonesian Borneo. It is ironic