Slow Turn in Jakarta

...Indonesia's most promising source of aid, besides the United States, is Japan, with which Indonesia has developed extensive trading relations over the past few years...

...The American attitude softened, however, after anti-Sukarno students, military leaders and politicians turned against President Sukarno last winter...

...Eventually, of course, the State Department wants something for its money...

...The rapport between Malik and Green epitomizes the development of good relations between Indonesia and the West in general...

...Sato qualified the gesture by giving 70 per cent of it directly to Japanese companies, but observers still viewed the agreement as a significant milestone in Indonesian-Japanese coprosperity...

...Western governments are anxiously awaiting Indonesia's return to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, from which Sukarno withdrew for the sake of "self-reliance," before offering wholehearted support...

...There can be no doubt, however, about the warmth that has developed between Marshall Green, the shrewd, toughminded American Ambassador who replaced Sukarno's old friend, Howard Jones, a year ago, and Adam Malik, the foreign minister who has made clear his intention of completely reversing Sukarno's pro-Chinese, anti-Western foreign policy...

...Indonesia will definitely return to the United Nations,' Malik announced three days later on arriving from an inspection tour of West Irian...

...The rumor is no doubt a canard engendered by embassies of Socialist or "nonaligned" countries, along with Indonesian Leftists who still share President Sukarno's phobia about a neocolonial and imperialist plot to overthrow his regime...

...Then, in late May, Eisaku Sato, the Japanese premier, agreed with Sultan Hamengku Buwono, presidium minister for economic affairs, to loan Indonesia $30 million to buy Japanese commodities...

...Sukarno has stopped attacking the Western powers and talking about a JakartaPeking "axis," but he has abandoned none of his anti-imperialist instincts...

...The Great Divide in the reorientation of Indonesian foreign policy was the signing on August 11 of the Indonesian-Malaysian "agreement to normalize relations...

...AntiCommunist students staged demonstrations and presented resolutions denouncing the President, partly because they shared Malik's fear that he might damage chances for developing ties with Western countries...

...Visiting the Hague, London and Bonn, Umarjadi tried to convince his hosts both of Indonesia's need and its ability to conquer overwhelming economic problems provided it has the necessary foreign assistance...

...Great Britain, for instance, offered a "no-strings-attached" gift of a million pounds just as Indonesia's new leaders were getting around to ending confrontation against Malaysia, which Britain has supported with arms and troops ever since the Malaysian Federation was formed three years ago...

...They have assured Western diplomats that they are willing to pay off the debts accrued by President Sukarno's program of nationalizing foreign-owned factories and plantations...

...With Indonesia as a member, the Association would form an ideal shield against the extension of Communist power beyond Vietnam...

...Bankers and corporation representatives arrive here almost daily to investigate the possibilities of opening business...

...Diplomats become more optimistic about the possibilities for aid every time the government takes another step against Sukarno's old policies...

...American officials said righteously last fall that Indonesians might be disillusioned if they thought they could run to Washington for help just because they had crushed a Communist coup d'?©tat...

...He hopes that the Soviet Union will develop as a foil against the threat of Western domination, just as it has for India...

...They often meet at diplomatic receptions or the headquarters of the Cabinet Presidium, next door to the American Embassy on a tree-shaded street bordering Jakarta's Freedom Square...

...Inevitably they emerge politely smiling, sometimes posing a handshake for photographers, but discreetly noncommittal...

...Officials emphasize that the agreements are straight "commercial transactions," not gifts, but no one believes that Washington will press too hard when payments are due...

...Once he confided that the Ambassador had asked him about Indonesia's relations with the Soviet Union, to which Indonesia owes some one billion dollars, 40 per cent of its foreign debt...

...Now that Indonesia has ended its debilitating policy of military confrontation against Malaysia, though, diplomats are talking in terms of "emergency loans before the end of the year" as well as long-range aid of vast but undetermined amounts...

...The rest will have to wait until the Kremlin is more certain of Indonesia's political future...

...As might be expected, foreign aid is the bait that America and other Western countries are dangling before hungry Indonesian eyes...

...Spare parts for our railroad system," "more rice and cotton," "State Department student exchanges"-these are some of the heady suggestions tripping softly off the tongues of Indonesians who a year ago would have been embarrassed to be seen talking to a Westerner, much less to an American...

...This strategy, besides satisfying the Russians, would placate domestic critics, already convinced that he has compromised Indonesia's integrity by restoring Indonesian-American friendship...

...Whether we like it or not, the Conference of New Emerging Forces will have to be scrapped...

...Evidence of Sukarno's unchanged attitude was his traditional address on August 17, 21st anniversary of Indonesian independence, in which he called for an "anti-imperialist" Conference of New Emerging Forces before Indonesia could consider rejoining the United Nations...

...Later, perhaps, Malik may drop an off-the-record aside to reporters to the effect that they discussed America's agreements to sell rice or cotton to Indonesia...

...The American presence, they feel should be as invisible as possible...

...Indonesia has always been reasonably confident that it could obtain more assistance once it smoothed over American feelings, badly bruised by Sukarno's policy of selfreliance and "the hell with American aid...

...The Soviet Union indicated it might accept this role when it refused an invitation to the Tokyo conference of aid-giving countries on the grounds that it did not wish to join "a pressure group against Indonesia.' Malik planned to visit Moscow before the conference as part of the game of playing the Soviet bloc against Washington and the West, but the Russians cancelled his visit at the last moment...

...Other Western nations could happily support Association members with aid and trade while suffering none of the moral and practical problems identified with the American cause in Saigon...

...Malik, while trying to prove the contrary, must also show his countrymen that Indonesia is truly nonaligned and determined not to fall into the Western orbit...

...Moscow has indicated that Indonesia will get some, but not all, that it wants...

...General Suharto has met with his top advisers and regional administrators in Bandung, the capital of West Java, to try to define Indonesia's most pressing needs, and Indonesian officials almost every day are dropping hints as to what they would like from Washington...

...The United States soon agreed to "sell" Indonesia nearly $10 million worth of rice and more than $10 million of cotton...

...But neither Suharto nor Malik can ignore the fanaticism with which many Indonesians revere the President...

...The Japanese government disappointed Indonesia last December by refusing to guarantee some $10 million worth of credit after Indonesia had admitted its inability to repay $15 million in overdue debts...

...or he may say they touched upon plans for a conference of aid-giving countries...

...Malik wants Russian leaders to reschedule payments on Indonesia's debts, most of it spent on military equipment, and has appealed for still more aid as well...

...Government officials have also indicated their eagerness to accept the corollary of Western aid and friendship, namely private investment...

...An integral phase of Indonesia's reconciliation with its former "neocolonial, colonial and imperialist" enemies was a swing through Europe by Umarjadi, the foreign ministry's top economic expert...

...Indonesia may not be wracked by civil war, but Americans know from past experience that such installations are simply too inviting as targets for rockthrowing demonstrators...

...Malik has devoted most of his energies so far to improving relations with the West and Indonesia's Western oriented neighbors, but observers believe he will concentrate on the Soviet Union as soon as the Tokyo conference is over...

...The principal deterrent to resumption of largescale aid is the lingering fear of some officials that the nation has not yet stabilized politically, that civil war could still upset long-range planning...

...Embassy officiais, accustomed to basing their opinions in large part on conversations with anti-Communist, pro-Western contacts, have adopted that line in reports to the State Department recommending the renewal of American aid...

...He is our only leader," said an official of the Pariai Nasionalis Indonesia, which has supported him politically in recent months...

...He laid the groundwork for a European mission by the Sultan this month and won token pledges and expressions of goodwill...

...Indeed, Suharto cannot even be certain that parts of the Armed Forces would not side with Sukarno in a showdown...

...Donald Kirk, a frequent contributor to these pages, is a freelance writer now based in Jakarta...

...All the countries have indicated their willingness to cooperate (they have no other choice) and most of them have shown carefully limited interest in investing more money in Indonesia...

...Like the United States, the Soviet Union wants something for its money-a counter to American strength elsewhere in Southeast Asia, influence over the straits connecting the Indian and the Pacific Oceans, a source of raw materials and a market for exports...

...Malik's firm attitude, supported, of course, by General Suharto, would seem to indicate the final doom of Sukarno's dreams...

...Both Indonesians and Americans agree that aid might best be channeled through a consortium of aidgiving countries...

...The result might well be to inspire an adverse reaction among millions of Indonesians who still pledge their loyalty to President Sukarno...

...Green and Malik have conferred frequently since last March when Sukarno was relegated to a figurehead role and Malik appointed foreign minister...

...The conference will focus on rescheduling payment of Indonesian debts totalling well over a billion dollars to America, Japan, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, West Germany and other lesser powers...

...Whatever else it may do, the United States has no immediate plans for reopening either its American libraries or a separate headquarters for officials of the Agency for International Development...

...Indonesia has strongly hinted in recent weeks that it would like to belong to either the Association of Southeast Asia or Maphilindo, a plan for mutual cooperation among Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia...

...And Indonesia could not be accused of selling its soul to imperialism by joining an openly Western alliance such as the Southeast Asian Treaty Organization...

...The reason for this tactic is that neither country wants the public here to get the impression, rightly or wrongly, that Indonesia has become overly reliant on American goodwill...

...Malik and his aides have worked on convincing the American Embassy that there is no real danger of civil war despite minor clashes lately in Bandung and Central Java, where Sukarno enjoys widespread popular support...

...but the majority of the military police, Air Force paracommandoes and Marine Corps are said to sympathize with the President...

...Washington's first hope is that Indonesia will join an independent alliance of neighboring nations, possibly the Association of Southeast Asia, which already includes Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia...

...We're gonna make a hundred million dollars in five years," said one freewheeling American entrepreneur...

...For months President Sukarno had done his best to deter a rapprochement with his old "neo-colonial" adversary...

...The United States is quietly encouraging aid-giving countries to participate in a conference in Tokyo next week, September 1921...

...Following the example of India, he plans to continue pro forma diplomatic relations with People's China even though China supported the Communists before their attempted coup...

...Suharto has reassigned or relieved a number of pro-Sukarno Army commanders...

...At the same time, the Embassy has learned a great deal from the disillusionment of previous years...

...Indonesia has promised to rejoin both organizations, and a team of IMF experts is drawing up its own estimate of Indonesia's debits, credits and potential...

...The consensus among most businessmen seems to be that Indonesia, with rich mineral deposits and fertile soil, has tremendous potential but still cannot be trusted politically...

...After all, the United States had plunged some $800 million into the country before the State Department cancelled its program here in March of 1965...

...Our policies remain unchanged," the President told the Cabinet in late July...

...OPENING TO THE WEST Slow Turn In Jakarta By Donald Kirk Jakarta An invidious rumor around Jakarta these days has it that the United States and Indonesia have already reached a "secret agreement" for cementing close relations...