VZCZCXRO8361
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #0759/01 1070147
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 160147Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8706
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS PRIORITY
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 4942
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 2339
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 1826
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUENAAA/SECNAV WASHDC PRIORITY
RHHJJPI/USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 2548
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 2603
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 000759 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/CM, EAP/P; PM 
NSC FOR E.PHU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ID CH
SUBJECT: ADMIRAL KEATING ENGAGES INDONESIAN EXPERTS ON 
SECURITY ISSUES 
 
 
¶1. (U) This message is Sensitive But Unclassified--Please 
handle accordingly. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  USPACOM Commander Admiral Keating engaged 
leading Indonesian national security experts during an April 
11 roundtable at the Center for Strategic and International 
Studies (CSIS), Jakarta's leading think tank.  Indonesian 
participants agreed on the importance of USG engagement in 
Asia, especially given uncertainty about China's intentions. 
They also supported robust USG-GOI mil-mil ties.  ADM Keating 
also discussed regional security with other security experts 
and Indonesian legislators in a separate meeting.  END SUMMARY 
 
A REGION AT PEACE 
 
¶3.  (SBU) In his opening remarks at CSIS, Admiral Keating 
described U.S Pacific Command's Area of Responsibility as a 
region at peace, thanks in part to U.S. engagement.  He noted 
that U.S. relationships in the region ranged from formal 
allies like Japan, the Philippines and Australia to less 
formal partnerships with countries like Indonesia, Singapore 
and Malaysia.  He noted that India--a stalwart of the 
Non-Aligned Movement traditionally reluctant to engage the 
United States on security issues--had shown greater interest 
in security cooperation with the United States.  ADM Keating 
also said that, due to the steady progress of the Six Party 
Talks on the DPRK's nuclear program, he was "cautiously 
optimistic" regarding the situation on the Korean Peninsula. 
(Note:  Septel contains a report regarding Admiral Keating's 
meetings with GOI officials.) 
 
¶4.  (SBU) In the subsequent discussion, CSIS Deputy Executive 
Director Rizal Sukma questioned whether the USG was 
preoccupied with the Middle East at the expense of other 
regions.  ADM Keating affirmed U.S. commitment to the 
Asia-Pacific region.  Despite priorities in other parts of 
the world, the United States regarded Asia as essential.  He 
noted particularly the importance of Southeast Asian 
waterways--especially the Strait of Malacca--to economic 
stability around the world.  ADM Keating assured his 
Indonesian interlocutors that the United States would remain 
engaged in Asia. 
 
QUESTIONS ABOUT CHINA 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Questions remained, however, about China.  ADM 
Keating underscored that the lack of transparency regarding 
China's military acquisitions and doctrine left the rest of 
the world unsure of Chinese intentions.  The United States 
had no reason to suspect expansionist or destabilizing 
intentions from China.  That said, China's lack of 
transparency forced the U.S. military to monitor the 
situation carefully.  ADM Keating also stressed, however, 
that the United States continued to engage China, including 
in the area of mil-mil ties, to encourage greater openness. 
One demonstration of this engagement was the recent 
installation of a hotline between U.S. and Chinese defense 
ministries--something that could help prevent 
misunderstandings. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Indonesian experts agreed that China's behavior 
raised questions about its intentions.  CSIS Executive 
Director Hadi Soesastro said this was the reason Indonesia 
and its ASEAN peers sought to bring China into regional 
institutions like the ASEAN Regional Forum and the East Asia 
Summit.  Building on this point, Rizal Sukma said that 
Indonesia continued to support a vigorous U.S. presence in 
the region.  "Only the United States can balance China," 
Sukma asserted. 
 
MIL-MIL TIES, DEMOCRATIZATION AND REFORM 
 
¶7.  (SBU) ADM Keating stressed that United States engagement 
with Indonesia, including with the TNI, was critical to 
supporting democracy and reform.  Indonesia was a critical 
partner on important issues like counterterrorism and 
maritime security.  Indonesia had made significant progress 
 
JAKARTA 00000759  002 OF 002 
 
 
in its ongoing reform process, including building a military 
that was under civilian control and respected human rights. 
The United States had responded to this progress by expanding 
engagement with the TNI and was committed to continuing that 
expansion, the Admiral said. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) In response to ADM Keating's question, Indonesian 
interlocutors outlined their desired next steps in 
Indonesia's military reform.  One participant said Indonesia 
needed eventually to give up the territorial command system. 
(Note: Under this system, military personnel are scattered 
throughout the country, assigned to jurisdictions down to the 
village level.  Critics charge that this gives the military 
too much influence over local administration.)  CSIS 
interlocutors also agreed that, as an archipelagic nation, 
Indonesia should develop a much stronger navy, a point the 
Admiral endorsed.  Ambassador Wiryono Sastrohandoyo said U.S. 
military engagement with the TNI could help strengthen 
Indonesia's democracy and urged that the USG stay focused on 
that element of mil-mil cooperation.  ADM Keating assured the 
audience that this was central to the United States' security 
relationship with Indonesia. 
 
DINNER WITH SECURITY EXPERTS 
 
¶9.  (SBU) In a separate conversation with security experts 
and members of the Indonesian legislature (DPR) on April 9 at 
the Ambassador's residence, Dr. Dewi Anwar Fortuna of the 
Indonesian Institute of Sciences and the Habibie Center said 
China's growing power should be a matter of major concern to 
the region.  Indonesia did not yet appreciate the seriousness 
of this development for the future.  Indonesia was unprepared 
and unable to resist growing Chinese influence in the region. 
 China historically had taken the position of a superior in 
all its relations with other countries in the region; it had 
never acted as an equal in partnership; there was no reason 
to expect this to change in the future.  Fortuna asked 
rhetorically what means ASEAN had to offset or otherwise 
temper China's rise. 
 
¶10. (SBU) DPR legislator Marzuki Darusman said there was 
growing support in the legislature for developing an 
Indonesian Coast Guard.  He said the DPR and the government 
were reviewing various options and were studying how other 
countries, including the United States, structured their 
forces.  So far, however, the Indonesian government remained 
undecided about how to proceed.  He noted that the Indonesian 
Navy and Marine Police each performed roles that could belong 
to a Coast Guard, although he admitted that each was 
underfunded and that there was no funding plan for any new 
Coast Guard. 
 
¶11.  (U) Admiral Keating has approved this message. 
 
HUME