Cambodia: Progress and Challenges since 1991

5. Cambodia-Indonesia Relations

48 Benny Widyono 48 5 CAMBODIA-INDONESIA RELATIONS Benny Widyono JAYAVARMAN II: THE PRINCE FROM JAVA Diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Cambodia have been established in their contemporary form for only a few decades, but the ties between the peoples of Indonesia and Cambodia date back centuries. “I wish to thank you, Excellency Mr Yasushi Akashi, for sending another prince from Java to help bring peace to Cambodia,” quipped Prince Sihanouk, referring to me. It was August 1992. We were in the city of Siem Reap, six kilometres from the world-famous Angkor Wat temple for the official inauguration of the provincial headquarters of the United NationsTransitional Authority of Cambodia (UNTAC), established to implement the Paris Agreements for Cambodia. I had joined UNTAC from the United Nations in New York and was appointed the provincial director in Siem Reap, some sort of shadow governor to the de facto governor of the People’s Republic of Cambodia (PRK), renamed the State of Cambodia (SOC) in 1991, which had remained unrecognized by the United Nations since its establishment in January 1979. Sihanouk’s witticism had its origin back in the year 802 CE, when a solemn ceremony was performed at Mahendraparvata, now known as Phnom Kulen, a sacred mountain top not far from where we were gathered that day 05 Cambodia_Progress 3/6/12, 10:32 AM 48 Cambodia-Indonesia Relations 49 in Siem Reap. At that ceremony, Prince Jayavarman II ostensibly was proclaimed a universal monarch.1 According to some sources, King Jayavarman II had resided for some time in Java during the reign of the mighty Sailendras, or Lords of the Mountains.2 Hence the concept of Devaraja, or God King (still often applied to Sihanouk), was ostensibly imported from Java.3 This ceremony was also allegedly meant to free King Jayavarman II from the overlordship of the Sailendras of Java.4 At that time, the Sailendras ruled over Java, Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, and parts of modern Cambodia. Jayavarman II’s inauguration in the year 802 CE gave birth to the Angkor period, a glorious Khmer civilization that dominated mainland Southeast Asia with ebbs and flows for the next six centuries. The Hindu-turnedBuddhist Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap was built in the first half of the 12th century, during the reign of Suryavarman II (1113 – c. 1150). Incidentally, the famous Buddhist temple of Borobudur was built in the year 800 by the Sailendras. Sihanouk’s quip had special significance for me as I, though not a prince was born in Magelang, six kilometres away from Borobudur. DURING THE COLD WAR In modern times, diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Cambodia were established on 27 March 1962 with the appointment of Indonesian ambassador to Cambodia, Abdul Karim Rasyid, and Cambodian ambassador to Indonesia Koun Wick.5 However, close relations between the two countries were fostered before that, with the deep friendship between President Sukarno of Indonesia and Prince/King Norodom Sihanouk from Cambodia, the first leaders of the two countries since independence: Indonesia in 1945 and Cambodia in 1953. Sukarno and Sihanouk met for the first time at the AsiaAfrican conference in Bandung, Indonesia in 1955. During the period 1959 to 1965, they visited each other’s countries a total of five times and they called each other brothers. In 1960, the two leaders signed a Treaty of Amity which called for permanent peace and friendship between the two countries. During the Cold War, Southeast Asia had, due to its geopolitical location, seen itself involved in the ongoing power struggles for hegemony in the region. During the 1960s, both President Sukarno of Indonesia and Prince Sihanouk of Cambodia expressed neutrality in the Cold War, while trying to maintain a political balance between a right-wing military and a growing Communist movement, the Partai Komunis Indonesia (PKI) and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. At a lunch during the Asian-African Conference, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai had assured Sihanouk that China respected Cambodia’s neutrality.6 05 Cambodia_Progress 3/6/12, 10:32 AM 49 50 Benny Widyono However, neutrality had not been acceptable to President Eisenhower of the United States and to the key US intelligence services, including the CIA, who were determined to support any anti-Communist Khmer they could find.7 Both leaders were thus forced to turn to the Left as a result. Ultimately both were overthrown by anti-Communist military elements close to the...