Is SBY doing a bit of a John Howard here so close to election time? Quote: According to Kornelius Purba, a prominent Indonesian newspaper columnist, the spying revelations have achieved the difficult feat of uniting Indonesians behind their President, who has been frequently criticised for his indecisiveness. BUT also- Quote: According to William Maley, director of the Australian National Universitys Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy, good diplomacy requires tact, understanding and a willingness to listen. The Coalition government, he says, has displayed few of these attributes in dealing with Indonesia, starting with its insistence on turning back boats laden with asylum seekers to Indonesia. Ever since they were in opposition, Indonesia has consistently warned them about this. They dont like this unilateral approach to people smuggling, he says. [The Coalition] have just ignored the signals from Jakarta, even as they have become stronger. When Indonesia began refusing requests to accept asylum seekers picked up by Australian vessels, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said theres no real rhyme or reason to Indonesias behaviour. This was especially galling in Jakarta, which felt it had made its position abundantly clear. The subtext was we are dealing with people who are not rational. This is how it was perceived in Indonesia, Maley says. Read more: smh.au/national/neighbourhood-watch-how-indonesia-and-australia-faced-off-over-spying-claims-20131122-2y1f8.html#ixzz2lPNpZXJ6
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 20:37:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015