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Indonesia's Joko Widodo 'hopes' to visit Australia soon despite military rift
Sydney Morning Herald - January 9, 2017
"We are still trying to find a date suitable for both leaders... there is a strong commitment from both sides to meet in the first quarter of this year," Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir told Fairfax Media.
President Jokowi, as he is popularly known, postponed his state visit to Australia last year after a rally in November calling for Jakarta's Christian governor to be jailed for alleged blasphemy ended in violence.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Australia would always warmly welcome a visit. "President Widodo has indicated his desire to visit and officials are actively working to find mutually convenient dates to reschedule the visit postponed in late 2016," he said.
The Australian Defence Department has also confirmed that Exercise Cassowary, an annual training exercise involving Indonesian and Australian naval patrols, would proceed as planned.
"The Royal Australian Navy has a series of bilateral exercises and activities with Indonesia in the coming months," a spokesman said. "There have been no recent changes to scheduled exercises or planned activities."
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has stressed the Australian government takes seriously its obligations regarding the safety and security of foreign diplomats and diplomatic premises after a trespasser waved a West Papuan separatist flag on the roof of the Indonesian consulate-general in Melbourne on Friday.
The incident, which The Jakarta Post described as a "fresh snag" in Indonesia and Australia relations, occurred just days after Indonesia's military chief revealed suggestions that West Papua should have independence was among curriculum he described as "too painful to explain" that was being taught at a Perth army base.
The offensive material caused a suspension in defence ties between the two countries, although chief security minister Wiranto clarified late on Thursday that this only related to a language training program and military cooperation had not been completely severed.
Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the break-in at the Indonesian Consulate General building on Friday was a "criminal act that is completely intolerable".
She said in a statement she had communicated with Ms Bishop on Saturday to ensure the Australian government would conduct an investigation and legal process against the perpetrator of the crime.
"The 1961 Vienna convention... states that "the receiving state is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of the mission against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the mission or impairment of its dignity."
Flying the separatist West Papuan "Morning Star" flag is banned in Indonesia, which is sensitive about the pro-independence movement and allegations of human rights violations in the restive province.
Mr Nasir told Fairfax Media the main concern was that the trespass was able to occur in a known diplomatic area, with the offender clambering over a wall from a neighbouring private property.
"If they are doing this within the context of the law it's fine, but the concern here is they are breaking the law and the security of the consular mission," he said. He pointed out the trespasser was Caucasian and not related to Indonesia.
Mr Nasir said Ms Bishop had given a strong commitment that Australia would act urgently to apprehend the trespasser. An Australian Federal Police spokesman said investigations remain ongoing. It is understood charges are yet to be laid.
Bob Lowry, the author of The Armed Forces of Indonesia, said there was still a lingering suspicion that Australia would change its mind and support an independent West Papua after its intervention in East Timor.
"Despite the Lombok treaty, a lot of people are very concerned about that," he said. "They don't want a situation to open up in which large scale movements in support of that aspiration (independence) develop in places like Indonesia and Australia."
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