Canberra, 1 April 1963
743. Secret
Malaysia
Your 324.1
In talks with State Department you should stress our conviction that Indonesian and Philippine hostility to Malaysia can be minimised if we and the United States keep talking to them quietly and firmly, through diplomatic channels. Just as Indonesia tried to improve on the May 1st deadline for West Irian2 so she will try to delay Malaysia. We must all make clear that:—
(a) Malaysia has our support and will come into being on August 31st;
(b) Malaysia represents the will of the Borneo people (see points in Minister’s speech of March 22nd);3
(c) Attempts by Indonesia and the Philippines to delay Malaysia will alienate not only countries like Britain, Australia and the United States but friends in many parts of the world.
1 28 March. It reported a discussion held with State Department officers on the upcoming round of official level tripartite talks in Manila. Items discussed covered US concern over possible Malayan inflexibility; whether or not Indonesia genuinely intended to use the talks for purposes other than disrupting Malaysia; whether Indonesia was now learning the art of compromise in international relations; further hardening of the Philippine attitude towards Malaysia; and the potential for Western criticism of the Philippines’ policy to turn the current internal opposition to the policy into bi-partisan support on nationalist grounds.
2 Under the Netherlands-Indonesian Agreement of 15 August 1962, the transfer of administration in West Irian from the UN Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA) to Indonesia was to take place on 1 May 1963.
3 See Barwick’s address, ‘Ourselves and Our Neighbours’, to the Australian Institute of International Affairs, 22 March 1963, CNIA , vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 29–31.