113. Memorandum of Conversation, Washington, September 25, 1974, 4:30 p.m.1 2
MEMORANDUM
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION
PARTICIPANTS:
- Adam Malik, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia
- Didi Djajaningrat, Director General for Political Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Alex Alatas, Private Secretary to Malik
- President Gerald R. Ford
- Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, Secretary of State and Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
- Brent Scowcroft, Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
DATE AND TIME: Wednesday, September 25, 1974 4:30 p.m.
PLACE: The
Oval Office
The White House
[The press was admitted briefly for photographs]
The President: You have been here many times.
Malik: Yes.
Kissinger: He was President of the General Assembly.
Malik: In 1971.
[The press leaves]
Malik: I have brought you a letter from President Suharto and he sends you his greetings. [Letter is at Tab A]. We want to confirm our desire to continue our friendly relations. When I was briefing the President, he said he saw you were going to visit Japan and he would be happy to have you visit Indonesia.
The President: Please thank the President. I am going to Japan in November but unfortunately I will not be able to visit Indonesia on this trip. I am sorry that my trip can’t be expanded beyond the time [Page 2] contemplated. But please thank the President and tell him I hope to be able to visit another time.
Malik: I also bring greetings from our Vice President, the Sultan of Jogjakarta. President Suharto also asks that you will consider continuing U.S. aid to Indonesia.
The President: The record of the U.S. in helping Indonesia is an indication of our sympathy and desire that Indonesia build up its economy and country. Our problem is that Presidents tend to be more generous than the Congress. But there is a strong desire on our part to continue this economic and military assistance. Until we get the bills through Congress, though, we won’t be sure. The Congressional attitude is to reduce and to restrict the Administration request that President Nixon submitted. But whatever the amounts we get, we will do the best we can.
You have been a fine partner in that part of the world. We appreciate the good relations we have had with you under President Suharto and we give the aid because you are a good ally.
Malik: Thank you very much. We understand the difficulty with the Congress, but given our mutually advantageous relations we hope you will continue to the extent you can.
The President: I see in President Suharto’s letter that he is pleased that I will continue the policy of my predecessor. I supported that policy, and I think it was the most successful foreign policy during my lifetime if not through American history. I will continue it. Secretary Kissinger and I have excellent relations. We will broaden detente, we will expand relations with the People’s Republic of China, we want to be close to our Asian friends like you, just as we strengthen our NATO alliances. Secretary Kissinger is an essential part of this and he will continue as he has.
Malik: Thank you very much. I will convey your message to my government and we will make every effort to continue our policy as it has been. I am happy my colleague will continue to carry out U.S. policy.
The President: He is the finest Secretary of State we have ever had.
Malik: Are there any questions you might have?
[Page 3]The President: There is one matter. President Nixon and Secretary Kissinger worked very hard to end the conflict in Southeast Asia. We are encouraged by what has happened in South Vietnam although it is far from over. I appreciate Indonesia’s role there. Laos has made real headway. In Cambodia, there are problems. If Indonesia could support Cambodia in the fight over its representation in the United Nations...
Malik: We support it.
The President: We think there is hope, and if we could have another year.
Malik: I talked to Bouteflika yesterday and asked him to show understanding for another year.
Kissinger: What is his attitude?
Malik: He seems to be changing his attitude. He asked if we supported Makarios, why not Sihanouk. I said Sihanouk was ousted by his Parliament. He asked about the chances for peace and I said they were very good.
Kissinger: How?
Malik: There are possibilities for getting in touch for fighting parties outside the Khmer. We have been in touch. And they are now persuading 10,000 to come over. There are feelers for more to come over. We discussed this with your Embassy in Jakarta. We think the Lon Nol regime has a chance and that it should be strengthened. It is the Route 3 Army. And they put no conditions on it — just to continue their rank and pay.
Kissinger: I think we should not undertake diplomatic initiatives right now.
Malik: I would wait. We are very active. Bouteflika asked about Sihanouk. I said we could take care of him eventually.
Kissinger: That is very interesting. Sihanouk’s only chance is if Lon Nol survives. If the Communists come in...
Malik: He is through.
[Page 4]The President: How is your economic development coming?
Malik: It is coming well, but as it develops, more problems arise, and that is what we are coping with now. The increase in oil prices isn’t much because we have only 1.4 billion barrels a year. We need help with rice and fertilizer.
The President: Is Indonesia self-sufficient in rice?
Kissinger: No, we send them a lot of PL–480.
The President: It was very nice to see you. Please give President Suharto my best. I look forward to expanding our relationship. I appreciate the invitation and hope at some time to be able to visit.
- Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, Memoranda of Conversation, Box 6. Secret. The conversation took place in the Oval Office. Tab A, not attached, is a letter from Suharto to Ford, September 12, expressing appreciation for Ford’s assurances of continuity in U.S. foreign policy. (Ibid., NSC Staff for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, Convenience Files, Box 3, Indonesia [3], September 1974–May 1975) Ford’s talking points for the meeting are ibid., Presidential Country Files for East Asia and the Pacific, Box 6, Indonesia (1).↩
- Ford, Kissinger, and Malik discussed U.S.-Indonesian relations and Indochina.↩