Canberra, 5 February 1963
85. Secret
Malaysia
Thank you for assessment in your 90.1 Tunku has been more restrained although he has s of ar shown no public appreciation that Indonesia has a real interest in the security of the area and may have genuine doubts both about Malaya’s ability to administer Borneo Territories or whether Malaysia will not fall under Chinese control.
2. Your paragraph 5. Britain will certainly defend the Borneo Territories in the short run, but none of us are anxious to see Malaysia come into being in face of permanent hostility from Indonesia and the Philippines.
3. Suggestion in your paragraph 6 that Thais may assist in bringing Tunku and Macapagal together is good. But it is equally important that Malaya and Indonesia should get together and that the Tunku should realise that small nations without the capacity to defend themselves should not lightly embark on the luxury of quarrelling with large and powerful neighbours.
[NAA: A1838, TS696/17/1 part 4]
1 Document 23.