International Journal of Indonesian Studies Volume 1, Issue 2

International Journal of Indonesian Studies Autumn 2015 diplomacy and politics, but also related to the blue-print of economic cooperation, cultural exchange and also in the domain of sports (for example, GANEFO, the Games of New Emerging Forces) in 1963. However, Indonesia was confronted in 1960 by the Dutch navy’s provocation in the Arafuru Sea and by the Malaysia Federation in May 1961, a situation supported by Britain and the United States of America. This situation brought Indonesia to confront Malaysia after Dwikora/Two Commands of People and to defend West Irian through Trikora/Three Commands of People as campaigned in 1961. The culmination was the proposal for the Malayan state as a member of the Security Council that made Indonesia withdraw from the United Nations in 1964.9 Turbulence, split, and the ending of confrontation In this period, the international position suddenly changed when the PRC-India were involved in border conflicts in 1962, following the Sino-Soviet split. The tensions between the Soviet Union and the PRC impacted on Asian-African nations’ foreign politics and within the Non-Alignment Movement as many of these states had formed a dependency on the support offered by the Soviet Union and the PRC. According to The Atlas on Regional Integration Report (2006, 2-3), although China and the Soviet Union had cooperated to “lead Africa to revolution”, their goals now diverged. The Soviet Union launched into “peaceful coexistence”, putting peace and disarmament at the top of its strategic foreign affairs agenda. China’s policy was to provide military and financial support to nationalist movements. However, China’s ambitions in Africa were limited by its systematic opposition to the USSR and Western interests (See Atlas on Regional Integration, 2006, 2).10 Developments in Indonesia received aid in the form of financial capital and infrastructure technology from the Soviet Union and the PRC. For example, Indonesia received military aid in its confrontation with Malaysia and in the struggle to liberate West Irian. Ricklefs (2001,326) noted that in January 1960, Khrushchev had visited Jakarta and extended a US$250 million credit to Indonesia. In January 1961, Nasution went to Moscow and received a Soviet loan of US$450 million for arms. The army now began to grow in size for the first time since the Revolution, reaching about 300,000 men in 1961 and 330,000 by late 1962. Sukma (1999,30) noted that from March into early April 1961, Chen Yi visited Indonesia and talked about ‘the perpetual Sino-Indonesian friendship’. He offered to supply Page Conﬂict and Confrontation in South East Asia, 1961–1965 Britain, the United States and the Creation of Malaysia. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. In late December, the PKI’s Central Committee passed a resolution condemning Malaysia as ‘a form of neo-colonialism’ which would ‘suppress the democratic and patriotic movements of the peoples in [the Borneo territories] which aim at the attainment of national independence and freedom from imperialism’, while with its British bases, Malaysia would be smuggled into SEATO (Jones, 2002, 99). 10 See,The Atlas on Regional Integration. Africa and China. 2006. ECOWAS-SWAC/OECD©2006 - December 2006. p.2 13 9

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