Issue Date: March 06, 1963 Malaysian Federation: Sukarno vs. Federation
Indonesian President Sukarno announced February 13 that his government's opposition to the formation of the proposed 5-state Malaysian Federation. Sukarno said Indonesia would support rebel forces that were fighting in Britain's Borneo territories of Brunei, Sarawak and North Borneo against the merger of those 3 areas with Malaya and Singapore. Indonesian Foreign Minister Subandrio had declared February 11 that Indonesia would give full support to the Brunei rebels to block the federation's formation. Subandrio, citing Malayan Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman's "incurable hostility" toward Indonesia, said that if Indonesia had a "common land frontier with the federation [of Malaya]," "physical conflict would be difficult to avoid." An Indonesian note submitted to Britain February 22 called the Malaysian Federation a threat to Indonesia's security. The note, delivered by Indonesian Ambassador B. M. Diah to Lord Home, British foreign secretary, was in reply to a recent British demand that Indonesia refrain from intervening in the Brunei revolt. Malaya February 13 had announced an expansion of its armed forces to counter what it called Indonesia's policy of "confrontation" toward Malaya and its "hostile attitude" towards Malaysia. Brunei agreement to enter the Malaysian Federation had been formally announced in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya February 7. The sultan of Brunei, Sir Omar Ali Saifuddin, who was in Kuala Lumpur conferring with Malayan officials on term's of Brunei's entry into the federation, had agreed in principle in 1962 to bring his territory into the federation. A final decision had been delayed, however, because of strong opposition from Brunei's Rakyat (People's) party. [See 1963 Borneo: UK Troops Alerted] © 2011 Facts On File News Services
Modern Language Association (MLA) Citation: "Malaysian Federation: Sukarno vs. Federation." Facts On File World News Digest: n. pag. World News Digest. Facts On File News Services, 6 Mar. 1963. Web. 3 Aug. 2011.