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OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #3044/01 3041151
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O 311151Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6880
INFO RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS PRIORITY
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 4442
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 1040
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1469
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 1952
RUEHPB/AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY 3516
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHHJJPI/USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 003044 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR P, EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/RSP, DRL, DRL/AWH 
NSC FOR E.PHU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/31/2017 
TAGS: PREL PHUM PGOV XC BM ID
SUBJECT: WAYS FORWARD ON THE BURMA ISSUE 
 
JAKARTA 00003044  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: DepPol/C Daniel E. Turnbull, reasons 1.4 (b,d). 
 
 ¶1. (C) SUMMARY:  Michael Vatikiotis of the Henry Dumont 
Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue offered ideas on moving the 
Burma situation forward, after discussions with leaders in 
the region, including Indonesian Foreign Minister Wirajuda. 
Vatikiotis said it was important that ASEAN unanimously 
ratify the proposed Charter and that the long-term benefits 
of a strong Charter not be sacrificed for "short-term gains 
in Burma."  He said ASEAN would act on Burma only in 2008, 
proposed Indonesia play a role as "convenor" of a process 
based on the "cocktail party" model that proved successful in 
Cambodia, and emphasized that any discussion with the Burmese 
regime needed to include its legitimate concerns of regional 
stability, territorial integrity and sovereignty.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (C) DCM met with met with Michael Vatikiotis, Regional 
Director for the Henry Dumont Centre for Humanitarian 
Dialogue, on October 30 to discuss possible ways forward on 
Burma.  Vatikiotis, (please protect), who is based in 
Singapore, has been a regular and very lucid interlocutor on 
a range of conflict resolution issues, including the Middle 
East.  The discussion followed a meetings Vatikiotes had had 
with Indonesian officials and policy advisers, including 
Foreign Minister Wirajuda, earlier in the day.  The views 
expressed below are Vatikiotis' synthesis of those meetings 
and other recent discussions he has had within the region on 
Burma.  His views were informed by but do not entirely 
reflect the view of the Indonesian government. 
 
¶3. (C) Vatikiotis made several major points on Burma: 
 
-- IMPORTANCE OF ASEAN CHARTER RATIFICATION:  Vatikiotis 
stressed the importance of the ASEAN draft Charter and its 
ratification at the November 18 ASEAN summit.  This 
represented a sustained effort by ASEAN over many years, was 
a significant achievement that the international community 
should support, and should not be sacrificed for "short-term 
gains in Burma."  The Charter, particularly its human-rights 
provisions, would become a standard against which to measure 
Burma (and other ASEAN members) in the future.  Discouraging 
Burma from signing would leave a permanent mark on it, 
allowing Burma to claim exception from its provisions. 
Moreover, Singapore was cool to the Charter, and 
non-signature by Burma (and Thailand) would play into 
Singapore's hands by weakening the Charter's  authority.  The 
international community, in Vatikiotis' view, should support 
the Charter's unanimous adoption at this year's summit. 
 
-- ACTION IN 2008:  Vatikiotis said ASEAN leaders were not 
looking to resolve the Burma issue at the ASEAN summit, and 
were not likely to take further action as a group until 2008. 
 He suggested there were various options for Burma's 
representation at the summit, which could amount to some 
level of differentiation.  Vatikiotis pointed out that 
Thailand would take over as ASEAN chair in 2008 and would be 
able to exert more leverage than Singapore in that capacity. 
 
-- ROLE AS INDONESIA AS "CONVENOR":  Vatikiotis suggested the 
process used two decades earlier in Cambodia could serve as a 
model, where Indonesia, using what was aptly described as a 
"cocktail party" approach, had convened relevant players for 
an open-ended discussion.  These discussions had helped open 
the way to resolution.  Vatikiotis recommended Indonesia, and 
specifically former FM Ali Alatas, assume this role. 
Vatikiotis offered the ASEAN-centered "convenor" approach as 
an alternative to UN Special Envoy Gambari's Contact Group. 
Indonesia wanted to play a role but was not in the current 
Troika, he noted, and this would be an ideal way to involve 
Indonesia.  In a recent discussion with DCM, Indonesian CSIS 
foreign-policy expert Rizal Sukma had broached the idea of a 
similar discussion among the relevant Burmese parties only. 
Vatikiotis believed the Troika and China should be included 
as well, in addition to the Burmese parties.  In that regard, 
Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared to be 
ready for dialogue but so far had not said so in interviews; 
she needed to do that, in Vatikiotis' view. 
 
JAKARTA 00003044  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
-- INCLUDE LEGITIMATE JUNTA CONCERNS:  Any discussion with 
the Burmese regime, Vatikiotis stressed, must include its 
concerns, i.e., regional stability, territorial integrity and 
sovereignty.  It would be difficult, he said, to get the 
generals to the table without some discussion of these issues. 
 
¶4. (C) Commenting on the dynamics among ASEAN members, 
Vatikiotis noted that, in his opinion, Indonesia and Malaysia 
generally considered Singapore to be too pro-Western and 
therefore were particularly sensitive to initiatives by 
Singapore.  When Western capitals praised Singaporean 
initiatives, Indonesia and Malaysia tended to interpret 
Singapore's actions, often mistakenly, as a reflection of 
Western capitals' desires or requests. 
 
HUME