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Myanmar
This Week in AsiaPolitics

Analysis | Indonesia’s Myanmar activism has achieved little except US and China agreement

  • In trying to shape a regional response to the military coup, Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi is following a deep historical precedent
  • But Jakarta faces a steep hurdle in getting its tried-and-tested methods of quiet diplomacy and persuasion to work amid the protests in Myanmar

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Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi speaks during a virtual informal meeting with Asean foreign ministers and representatives on March 2. Photo: Reuters
Michael Vatikiotis
Indonesia’s proactive response to the February 1 coup in Myanmar has prompted a mixed reaction, with Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi cautiously applauded for moving swiftly to try and shape a regional position on the military takeover while all the major powers, including China and the US, were happy to see Indonesia and Asean take the lead. On the ground in Myanmar, however, there were angry scenes outside the Indonesian embassy in Yangon and the hashtag “#rejectASEANresolution” trended on social media.
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The coup and the massive popular resistance preventing the Myanmar army from consolidating its grip on power have presented the region with the biggest single challenge since the Covid-19 pandemic. Indonesia’s response has in part been shaped by the constraints of the pandemic.
Retno has been frustrated by the deterioration in regional diplomacy driven by the inability of her peers in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to meet face to face because of closed borders and quarantine procedures. She is one of the only top envoys in the region to have travelled these past few months – making visits to China, the Middle East and neighbouring states to secure vaccines and negotiate travel corridors as well as attend to Indonesia’s modest role in Middle East diplomacy and the Afghan peace process.

Yet there is a deeper historical precedent for Indonesian activism on Myanmar. As Cambodia emerged from a brutal civil war four decades ago, Indonesia embarked on a bold quest to convene the warring parties and search for a lasting peace. Shuttle diplomacy – started in 1987 by the cerebral and soft-spoken Mochtar Kusumaatmadja, who as foreign minister initiated contacts with Vietnam – was energetically pursued by his successor, the urbane and persuasive Ali Alatas. These efforts culminated in the Jakarta Informal Meeting series, which brokered an initial deal between the Cambodian factions that led to the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement.
Protesters clash with security forces during a protest against the military coup and the detention of civilian leaders in Myanmar. Photo: DPA
Protesters clash with security forces during a protest against the military coup and the detention of civilian leaders in Myanmar. Photo: DPA

Alatas was succeeded by his loyal deputy, Hassan Wirajuda, who embarked on a mission to broker an agreement to resolve armed conflict in the Southern Philippines – a peace accord ensued in 1996. His successor, Marty Natalegawa, was confronted with a range of regional issues including conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, a deadlock over the South China Sea and the Rohingya refugee crisis. To try and manage these issues in the context of an increasingly fractious Asean grouping, Natalegawa deployed the same tactics: shuttle diplomacy and persuasion. There were mixed results: almost certainly his shuttling helped rescue an Asean consensus on the South China Sea in 2012, but his offer to mediate between Bangkok and Phnom Penh over their border dispute was politely rebuffed. The Rohingya crisis rumbles on.

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The rationale for Indonesia’s diplomatic activism is rooted in Indonesia’s revolutionary struggle. As a fledgling republic, national leaders such as founding president Sukarno, his vice-president Muhammad Hatta and leading diplomatic figures like Adam Malik relied on support from other newly independent postcolonial states – among them Myanmar. After severing ties with the Dutch colonial authorities in 1949, Indonesia set about to repay its debts: in 1955 Sukarno convened the famous Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung.

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