CONFIDENTIAL
British Embassy
No 1 Ichiban-Cho Chiyoda-ku Tokyo
Telex J22755 (A/B PRODROME)
Telephone 265-5511
J T Masefield Esq
FED
FCO
HACK 243/1
INDEX
اامد
BY RO
2 6 MAR 1979
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Your reference
Our reference
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TREA wk Walker WK -Assessinti stiff
March 1979
Dear Thade,
По
Dr.
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VISIT TO JAPAN BY INDONESIAN FOREIGN MINISTER
1. The Indonesian Foreign Minister, Dr Mochtar, visited Japan between 21 and 24 February. He was received by the Emperor and had a brief discussion with the Prime Minister, Mr Chira. His principal discussions were two two-hour sessions with Mr Sonoda but he also made courtesy calls on the MITI Minister and the Minister of Agriculture, with whom no issues of substance were discussed.
27 i
2.
I called on the Head of the 2nd South East Asian Division of the MFA, Hirabayashi, yesterday to enquire about the visit. Hirabayashi, who has been newly appointed to this job and has previously served in Paris and Peking, was extremely forthcoming and helpful. The account which follows was taken almost entirely from MFA telegrams, interspersed with some personal comments by Hirabayashi.
3. During their brief exchanges, Mr Ohira had made two points to Dr Mochtar. He had emphasised that his administration would maintain precisely the same attitude to ASEAN as that of his predecessor Mr Fukuda. The MFA have been aware of fears in
ASEAN countries that Mr Ohira would take less interest in the region, and the invitation had been issued to Dr Mochtar precisely in order to dispel these fears as soon as possible. Mr Ohira also asked Dr Mochtar to convey an invitation to President Suharto to visit Japan in the second half of May. Mr Fukuda had issued a general invitation to President Suharto, but no date had been fixed; the Japanese are now anxious to make their plans firmer, because of the congestion of the diplomatic timetable this year. Dr Mochtar said merely that he would pass on the invitation.
For his part, Dr Mochtar had explained ASEAN's new plans for a refugee processing centre to deal with the Indo-China refugee problem. The ASEAN countries have apparently just issued a statement on this (which we have not seen). The centre is to be set up on an island which will be provided by Indonesia, and ASEAN hopes for assistance from the advanced countries. Mr Ohira replied by describing Japan's contribution through the UNHCR to the solution of the Indo-China refugee problem, and promised
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