http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/18/asia/clinton.php
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton posing for photos with students from the elementary school where President Barack Obama studied at Halim airport in Jakarta on Wednesday. (Pool photo by Tatan Syuflana) Clinton makes big detour to Indonesia By Mark Landler Published: February 18, 2009 JAKARTA: Reaching out to the world's most populous Muslim country and the boyhood home of her new boss, President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled to Indonesia on Wednesday to pay tribute to its hard-won political freedoms. "Indonesia has experienced a great transformation in the last 10 years," she said, hearkening back to the Asian financial crisis of 1998, which led to the ouster of Suharto, its autocratic president, and set Indonesia on the path to becoming a robust, if somewhat confusing, democracy. "If you want to know if Islam, democracy, modernity, and women's rights can coexist, go to Indonesia," she said at a dinner of academics, journalists, environmentalists and women's rights advocates. Clinton said her decision to come to Jakarta - a detour of nearly 7,000 miles, or more than 11,200 kilometers, between stops in Japan and South Korea - was also motivated by a desire to recognize the importance of Southeast Asia, a region that the Obama administration believes was neglected by the administration of President George W. Bush. To underline that point, she announced that the United States would begin the process of acceding to a treaty with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. That would bind it closer to the 10-member group, which includes Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. But Clinton harshly criticized another Asean member, Myanmar, noting that the United States was reviewing its policy of economic sanctions against the military junta that runs the country, formerly known as Burma. She professed frustration that the regime was seemingly impervious to pressure. "Clearly, the path we have taken in imposing sanctions hasn't influenced the Burmese junta," Clinton said after meeting with the Indonesian foreign minister, Hassan Wirajuda. She added, "Reaching out and trying to engage them hasn't worked either." Clinton did not explain in detail what steps the United States was contemplating. Indonesia, which is also critical of the junta, believes Myanmar's neighbors need to exert more pressure, according to Wirajuda. After Obama's recent, highly visible appeal to the Islamic world, and similar overtures by Clinton, she seemed sensitive about focusing on Muslims at the expense of other religious groups. "There is no pigeon-holing; there is no exclusivity," she said. "We are reaching out to the entire world." The United States, Clinton said, was seeking a broader partnership with Indonesia, particularly in areas like efforts to combat climate change. Indonesia has become one of the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases, largely because of its extensive deforestation. She announced that the Indonesian government had agreed to negotiations to allow the Peace Corps to return to the country after a 43-year absence. Peace Corps volunteers were forced out of the country in 1965 in the turmoil that culminated in a military coup by General Suharto. Clinton also praised Jakarta for its fight against Islamic extremism. That echoed the annual threat assessment that was submitted to the U.S. Congress last week by the country's director of national intelligence, Dennis Blair. The report said Indonesia's counterterrorism efforts had led to the jailing of numerous operatives of Jemaah Islamiya, a radical group responsible for the deadly bombing in Bali in 2002. While the group still poses a threat, the report said, its capabilities have been significantly degraded. Clinton has asked colleagues whether Indonesia holds lessons for Pakistan, a large but much less stable Muslim country. The answer is far from clear, given the distinct differences in Pakistani and Javanese culture, and the different role religion plays in the two societies. Clinton said Indonesia, as one of the Group of 20 nations, had a clear role to play in recovering from the global economic crisis. Wirajuda said Indonesia still expected to eke out some growth this year, but the government worries about rising protectionism in foreign markets. Indonesia's wrenching experience in the late-1990s - when its currency plunged and its banks fell into insolvency - makes it feel especially vulnerable to the threat of cross-border economic contagion. Still, Indonesia is in many ways a good-news story, and never more so than now. At the airport in Jakarta, Clinton was serenaded by children from the Besuki school, which Obama attended as a fourth-grader in 1970. She seemed tickled and swayed in unison with the children. "I've already been asked, over and over again, 'When is he coming?"' Mrs. Clinton said, with mock exasperation. She suggested that Obama should save the visit for a time when he was beleaguered at home and needed a friendly diversion. That suggests he may not be coming anytime soon. "President Obama has a very strong constituency in Indonesia, of course without the right to vote," Wirajuda said. He urged Mrs. Clinton to lean on him for a visit. "We cannot wait too long," he said. 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