Bill Clinton: “You said people in my party have said that I should do that? They haven't discussed that with me yet. [Laughter] Let me…”

“You said people in my party have said that I should do that? They haven't discussed that with me yet. [Laughter] Let me say, without answering the specific question because I haven't made a decision about that, let me say I have been concerned about the whole question of East Timor from the first time I first heard about it. The United States has, while maintaining basically constructive and friendly relationships with Indonesia and working with Indonesia on a whole wide array of shared foreign policy concerns, has consistently done more in the last 3 years than we have previously. We changed our arms export policy to try to not sell those arms which could be most likely to be used to put down a civilian rebellion or to oppress people's human rights, not in any country but with our sales toward Indonesia. We have cosponsored the resolution on East Timor in the United Nations. And Indonesia is a very large, very great, very rapidly growing country with a massive amount of diversity, both ethnic diversity and religious diversity. This is one area where they have not been able to manage it successfully. And we will continue to try to work to do what we can to resolve this in a way that is consistent with what I believe are universal values with regard to human rights and human dignity. Prime Minister Howard. As far as we are concerned, that's not an issue that I previously addressed my mind to, so like the President I won't specifically try and respond to it. But let me say that the East Timor issue is obviously a sensitive element of the relationship between Australia and Indonesia and, indeed, the relationship between Indonesia and other countries. You will all be aware of the great importance of the bilateral relationship between both Australia and Indonesia. There will always be differences of view about how different issues should be handled between our two countries. But my government and governments before mine of both political persuasions have shown a determination not to allow that issue to contaminate or undermine the broader relationship. And the significance of the bilateral relationship between Australia and Indonesia is only surpassed by our bilateral relationships with one or two other countries. And it's therefore important in everything that we do to try and keep a proper balance between our desire to foster that relationship, but by the same token, to properly put down markers of error in values and error in attitudes and also, of course, to fully respect the fact that within a democracy such as Australia, people will openly and vigorously express their views on this issue and it is no part of the role of the Australian Government to prevent or discourage that. That is a point that I made in my own personal discussions with President Soeharto when I saw him in Jakarta a couple of months ago. Thank you.”