SYDNEY -- Fragile relations between Indonesia and Australia have taken a nosedive, again, and Canberra is concerned that any sudden venting of anger in Jakarta may wreck years of painstaking efforts at building up mutual good will. The Indonesian ambassador has been recalled from Canberra "for consultations." Critics in Jakarta are charging Australia with trying to sponsor a breakaway for West Papua, Indonesia's easternmost province, just as some Indonesians believe Australia did a few years back when East Timor fought for and won independence.
Wrong on all counts, Canberra protests, although Australian Prime Minister John Howard remains too diplomatic to say so.
Trouble is, Australian public opinion is still seething over two recent setbacks in Indonesia, a Muslim extremist bombing on the resort island of Bali that killed 88 Australian tourists and life sentences imposed by Bali courts on Australian drug smugglers. Now comes an event the diplomats are calling "delicate." A canoe carrying 43 starving Papuans lands in North Queensland after four days lost at sea. The villagers plead for political asylum. Despite Jakarta's calls for them to be returned, Canberra has granted asylum.