Media Availability With U.S. Secretary Of State Hillary Rodham Clinton And Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda Following Their Meeting

Copyright ©2009 by Federal News Service, Inc., Ste. 500, 1000 Vermont Ave, Washington, DC 20005 USA. Federal News Service is a private firm not affiliated with the federal government. No portion of this transcript may be copied, sold or retransmitted without the written authority of Federal News Service, Inc. Copyright is not claimed as to any part of the original work prepared by a United States government officer or employee as a part of that person's official duties. For information on subscribing to the FNS Internet Service at www.fednews.com, please email Carina Nyberg at cnyberg@fednews.com or call 1-202-216-2706.

SEC. CLINTON: Well, good afternoon. And it is a pleasure to welcome Indonesia's foreign minister. Mr. Wirajuda and I have already met in Jakarta. We've talked on the phone on important matters. And it's a very wonderful part of my position to be able to have him here to continue the productive conversation we started in February.

Today we renewed our commitment to build a comprehensive partnership based on mutual respect and mutual interests. We are working together on a number of common concerns for our two countries, the region and the world.

You know, Indonesia and the United States share a vision for a peaceful and prosperous Southeast Asia. We also share a commitment to democratic values, human rights and a vibrant civil society.

The American people have the greatest respect for what the Indonesian people have accomplished in the last decade. Indonesia is now the world's third-largest democracy, and it is taking the lead on a broad range of regional and international issues, including the promotion of democracy. Through their commitment to democracy, religious freedom and women's rights, Indonesians uphold the values that President Obama described in speech last week in Cairo, values that are fundamental -- fundamental to Indonesia and the United States -- justice, progress, tolerance.

Earlier today, I met with activists working to support democracy and human rights, across the Middle East and North Africa, as well as with leaders who are advocating for religious freedom across the world. And for all who work hard and risk a great deal, to stand up for these universal values, the example of Indonesia gives hope and confidence of a brighter future.

Today, I am pleased to announce that we are deepening our cooperation and committing $10 million in higher education funding for Indonesia, this fiscal year, including projects for English-language teaching and encouraging U.S.-Indonesia educational linkages. Also a group of American educators will travel to Indonesia, this summer, to explore additional opportunities for collaboration between our universities.

Just as it is in the United States, education is the key to expanding economic opportunity, in Indonesia, and allowing people to live up to their full potential. And these people-to-people connections will further bind our countries together.

We also discussed the importance of ASEAN, for regional stability and prosperity, our countries' mutual interest in combatting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. And I thanked the foreign minister for Indonesia's leadership, in supporting democratic values, and underscored our commitment to the Bali Democracy Forum.

We also discussed the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi. Let me again reiterate that the charges against her are baseless. And we call for her immediate release. Indonesia, like other ASEAN countries, have also spoke out about her plight and urged her immediate release. And we greatly appreciate that.

I look forward to continuing to work, with the foreign minister and the Indonesian government, on all of these issues. And I'm confident that our relationship will grow stronger and deeper in the future.

Thank you so much, Minister.

MIN. WIRAJUDA: Thank you very much, Secretary Hillary Clinton, for your kind remarks, including on the progress that we made, in Indonesia, during the past 10 years of reformasi, we call it.

The purpose of my working visit, to Washington, is to follow up our discussions during the visit of Secretary Clinton to Jakarta, last February, during which we agreed to develop comprehensive partnerships between Indonesia and the United States.

By the comprehensive partnerships, we mean agreement to expand and deepens the bilateral relation between Indonesia and United States.

Indonesia strongly believes, as we do share the fundamental values of democracy, human rights and pluralisms, we have more reasons to be able to develop stronger relations with the United States. In fact, as we are continuing our discussions on the format as well as the substantive coverage of the partnerships, we agreed to start working on the promotions in areas that we thought we could start develop productive cooperations, (modest ?), in the promotions of people-to-people exchange on educations. And I am grateful that the United States has extended assistance of 10 million U.S. dollars to support the program.

But likewise, we are very encouraged as immediate translations of President Obama's message and call made in Cairo that the U.S. government is intending to develop a bilateral dialogue -- interfaith dialogue and cooperations, something that we are -- in Indonesia are proud of, our various initiatives in promoting both bilateral, regional or intra-regional dialogues with many countries and regions, and I think this is a noble effort to help create better understanding among peoples around the world.

We followed attentively, and I personally read the statement made by President Obama. We welcome the statement, and I thought I might claim that the message is also ours. And I thought that Indonesia could be a good partner in the U.S. efforts to reach out to the Muslim world after all the call for democracy, respect for human rights, including the rights of womens.

And to promote democracy and Islam to go hand in hands is something that we have been doing in Indonesia.

This adds two more reasons why we should develop a partnership with the United States.

As secretary of State has just mentioned, that we discussed other issues of concern, including the unfortunate development in Myanmar, in particular the decisions of the military junta to bring Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to trial.

Of course, this is unfortunate development because actually we were expecting that the case of arbitrary detentions of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi should have been reviewed last month with a view to release her. So that's why we issued a very strong statement on the current case of Daw Aung Suu Kyi and we remind Myanmar of its obligation under the new ASEAN charter, but likewise to the previous calls made by our leaders to immediately release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

We thank secretary of State's statements on the U.S. to support our Bali Democracy Forum. I think i's important and very strategic that Indonesia and the United States works closely together in sharing our experience and best practices in countries, in particular in the regions of Asia.

Thank you very much.

SEC. CLINTON: Thank you so much.

STAFF: First question to Andrea Mitchell of NBC.

Q Thank you.

Madame Secretary, can you come up with any explanation for the harsh sentence that Laura Ling and Euna Lee have being given by the North Koreans? And do you think that there is anything that a special envoy, such as the former vice president, Al Gore, might be able to accomplish in negotiating their release? And more broadly, is U.S. policy at cross-purposes? You're trying to get this women out the same time as you're ratcheting up pressure on Pyongyang for other military reasons. So how do you coordinate and synchronize those policies?

Thank you.

SEC. CLINTON: Well, Andrea, we continue to seek the release of the two detained journalists on humanitarian grounds. Our protecting power in the DPRK is the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang, and they confirmed the sentencing of both Laura Ling and Euna Lee.

And our thoughts are with these two young women and their families. I've spoken with family members and expressed our concern as well as our commitment to securing the release of our citizens.

Obviously, we are deeply concerned about the length of the sentences and the fact that this trial was conducted totally in secret with no observers. And we're engaged in all possible ways, through every possible channel, to secure their release. And we once again urge North Korea to grant their immediate release, on humanitarian grounds.

Q Can you say whether an envoy might be helpful, and whether -- whether you've sent a letter, that has been suggested, explaining the circumstances of their being on the border, and whether you have a concern that our efforts at the U.N. to get sanctions right now and put more pressure on North Korea for other reasons could slow down this negotiation?

SEC. CLINTON: Well, I think, for understandable reasons, I'm not going to go into our private diplomatic efforts. We are pursuing every possible approach that we can consider in order to persuade the North Koreans to release them and send these young women home.

We view these as entirely separate matters. We think the imprisonment, trial and sentencing of Laura and Euna should be viewed as a humanitarian matter. We hope that the North Koreans will grant clemency and deport them.

There are other concerns that we and the international community have with North Korea, but those are separate and apart from what's happening to the two journalists.

STAFF: The next question is from -- (off mike).

Q Thank you. I was wondering whether you both discussed about military assistance to Indonesia, and whether it is included in the comprehensive partnership. And apart from that, is there any new scheme made by the U.S. to make sure that the military assistance for Indonesia is expanded, especially in terms of arms supply? Thank you.

MIN. WIRAJUDA: You answer. (Laughs, laughter.)

SEC. CLINTON: As part of our comprehensive partnership, we are going to be discussing military and defense matters. We want to have closer connections with Indonesia and a military-to-military relationship.

And that will be discussed and resolved in the course of our partnership. But clearly the Obama administration sees the progress in Indonesia in very positive terms, and we want to cooperate across every issue: health, education, cultural exchanges, military, economic. So that will be a part of our overall framework.

STAFF: Next question goes to Nick Kralev from The Washington Times.

Q Thank you.

Madame Secretary, can you tell us, how does the outcome of the election in Lebanon yesterday change the dynamic you've got with Syria and in the broader Middle East? And if I may, how is the State Department going to be involved in the investigation of the former State Department employee accused of spying for Cuba?

Thank you.

SEC. CLINTON: Well, Nick, first of all, I congratulate the people of Lebanon for holding a peaceful election yesterday. The turnout was high. Obviously the very positive involvement by the Lebanese people in their elections demonstrates, once again, their commitment to peace and security, and the strength of their democracy. So we will continue to support a sovereign and independent Lebanon, and we are hopeful that the Lebanese themselves will be able to resolve some of their internal concerns without outside interference.

With respect to the investigation that is ongoing, I have directed our security personnel to review every possible security program we have, every form of vetting and clearance that we employ in the State Department, to determine what more we can do to guard against this kind of outrageous violation of the oaths that people take to serve our country here in the State Department.

We are concerned by the announcement of the arrests and the charges against these two individuals -- one of whom, as you know, was a former State Department employee, along with his wife. And we will, you know, work with the Department of Justice and others within our government to make sure that any information that is needed is provided for the investigation and prosecution, but equally importantly that we look forward to make sure that we try to prevent something like this from ever happening again.

STAFF: And last question to -- (inaudible).

Q Thank you. I have two questions.

The first one is, Indonesia will hold a presidential election next month. So what does U.S. hope regarding this election?

And do you expect any changes to be brought or should be brought, by the next president, in terms of Indonesian foreign policy towards the United States?

SEC. CLINTON: Well, of course, the elections are an internal Indonesian matter. We applaud the continuing growth and dynamism of the democracy in Indonesia. We look forward to working with the Indonesian government.

We have very much appreciated our relationship with the existing administration. It has been very positive and constructive. And you know, we look forward to working with the government that the people of Indonesia choose. But what is so significant about this election is the further example it sets.

You know, as the minister was saying, Indonesia represents the fact that Islam and democracy are not in contradiction. Indonesia is building a modern, secular democracy that respects Islam and respects women's rights. We are so impressed with the steps that have been taken in Indonesia.

And we applaud the Bali Democracy Forum, because we think that is a way for other countries that are just beginning their transition, to democracy, or are thinking about whether to begin, to see it in action. And this election next month is a great testament to the commitment of the Indonesian people to democracy.

Thank you all very much.

END.

Source