So near, so far and
growing apart
Welcome to 2016 and the perennial question: How can we get a
warmer relationship with the people next door even if they’re tepid about us?
In 2013 ANU Strategic Studies Professor Hugh White wrote:
‘It will not be easy
because in almost every dimension of national life – geography, history,
economics, religion, language and culture – Australia is as different from
Indonesia as two countries can be.’
His comments could have been
published yesterday; they’ve not been gainsaid, only highlighted by others to
illuminate the contrasts.
Yet applying all
White’s factors – and particularly history – distant Japan is the country we
should most distrust and our northern neighbour the one we should like best. Curiously the reverse holds.
We fought a vicious war against the East
Asian nation bent on conquest. Its
fanatical military was as inhuman towards prisoners as ISIS extremists are
today. The Japanese bombed our northern
ports and came close to invading.
The generation that suffered hated the enemy
and passed down its abhorrence. Loathing
lapsed as Japanese technology triumphed; we found Toyotas efficient and –
traitorous to confess – hardier than Holdens.
We got a taste for sushi and tempura but found
the language difficult and culture opaque. They have a far-right military group
glorifying its evil past, and which still finds ‘sorry’ the hardest word. They
continue to slaughter sea mammals and ignore our outrage.
Yet this month one-time Australian ambassador
to Japan John McCarthy told ABC Radio our friendship with Japan is ‘the closest
relationship we have in Asia’. His
former department says this is ‘underpinned by a shared
commitment to democracy, human rights and the rule of law.’
On his pre-Christmas trip to Tokyo Prime
Minister Malcolm Turnbull joined the chorus: ‘There has never been a better time to
be investing in the friendship between Australia and Japan’.
Although Turnbull added that he was ‘very
disappointed’ with Japan’s decision to resume whaling in Antarctic waters that
didn’t stop him inviting PM Shinzo Abe to Australia this year. He was officially last in Canberra in 2014
when he addressed the Federal Parliament.
Turnbull also posed with ASIMO labelled ‘the
world’s most advanced humanoid robot’.
Contrast
this enthusiasm with Turnbull’s earlier visit to Jakarta, promoted as a chance
to reset the relationship following the execution of two Australian drug
traffickers.
Unlike his
predecessor Turnbull didn’t remind President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo of
Australia’s aid after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.
Instead he
reached back seven decades, overlooking the point that the unions did much of
the heavy lifting in helping decolonise the archipelago:
‘One of the shining moments, proudest moments (in)
Australia’s contribution to global affairs was the diplomatic support provided
in the immediate post war era for Indonesia’s struggle for independence and
sovereignty.’
If this heartstring pluck was
supposed to inspire a tear and a hug, it didn’t work. Even after more than a
year in the job the leader of the world’s third largest democracy still does
banal well.
Jokowi replied: ‘The close
proximity of our two countries is a fact.’
Turnbull did
snap selfies but in a grossly overcrowded and basic market. If he did offer a visit
the card wasn’t opened.
The prelude to Turnbull’s trip
was a deputation of 344 businesspeople encouraged by the perpetual alerts that
Indonesia is too big and important to ignore.
It’s by far the largest economy in Southeast Asia and
expanding fast. The World Bank reports it’s ‘now one of Asia Pacific’s
most vibrant democracies that has maintained political stability and emerged as
a confident middle-income country.’
Australia relies on exports of primary produce, modern
technology and efficient services. We’re
the country next door but do little business with our giant neighbour. There
used to be 400 Australian companies; now there’s 250.
By contrast Japan is Australia's
second-largest export market and fourth-largest source of foreign investment.
Turnbull’s rhetoric was later warmed up by Foreign Minister
Julie Bishop. As a prelude to a December meeting with her counterpart Retno
Marsudi (plus Defence Ministers) she said: ‘Australia enjoys a constructive partnership
with Indonesia, which is vital to our economic, strategic and security
interests.’
All
important, but no mention of friendship. Or culture, education, science, art, invention
and innovation that accompanies talk about Japan - just the standard trinity of
business suits, planners with portfolios and uniforms with guns.
Although the Lowy Institute’s
poll on our feelings towards Indonesia show they’ve cascaded to the
lowest point since 2005, (on a par with Russia and Egypt), we certainly like
Japan, ranking the country just below Germany, the US, UK and NZ.
And they seem to like us; More than 350,000 Japanese visit Australia every year. The
number from Indonesia is less than half, though paradoxically we send more than
a million to Indonesia.
Most head to Bali which even DFAT has trouble recognising as part of the Republic. Its travel warnings state: ‘We advise you to exercise a high degree of caution in Indonesia, including Bali’.
Do we find it easier to relate to the
Japanese because they play rugby (introduced by former Canterbury-Bankstown
Bulldogs player Max Mannix), drink grog, work hard, are smart innovators, don’t
bother others with their religion and have rapidly adapted to Western ways and
values?
In 1945 both nations started with huge
handicaps. The Indonesians fought a
guerrilla war for four years to expel the colonial Dutch and consolidate their
independence.
Japan had been bombed with atomic
weapons. Almost all its industry had
been destroyed. The Allies’ occupation lasted for seven years. But by 1949 Japan had won its first Nobel Prize.
It now has 24, mainly in physics. We
have 13. Indonesia has none.
Japan joined the UN in 1956; instead of
dwelling on its catastrophic and humiliating defeat the nation set out to
rebuild and learn; it’s now the world’s third largest economy with a population
one-third of Indonesia’s 250 million.
Till a year ago Indonesia was our major aid
recipient and (Bishop again) a ‘trusted partner.’ If that’s the best we can say this commentary
could be recycled a year hence.
If we
can get close to the Japanese, why not the neighbours? They are overwhelmingly friendly
and funny, their culture and country alluring.
What’s the problem - Indonesia or us?
Readers’ suggestions welcome.
First published in New Mandala 11 Jan 2016:
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