US embassy cable - 05CANBERRA293

C O N F I D E N T I A L CANBERRA 000293 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/15/2015 
TAGS: AS, CN, JA, PREL, ARF 
SUBJECT: AUSTRALIA WANTS TRILATERAL STRATEGIC DIALOGUE, 
HELP FROM JAPAN ON EAS MEMBERSHIP 
 
 
Classified By: J. Thomas Schieffer, Ambassador.  Reasons: 1.4 (b/d) 
 
1.  (C) Summary: Australian Foreign Affairs Secretary Michael 
L'Estrange told the Ambassador on February 14 that he hoped 
another round of the U.S.-Japan-Australia Trilateral 
Strategic Dialogue could be held in the near future.  He also 
asked that the U.S. encourage Japan to use its influence with 
ASEAN to push for Australia to be included in the East Asian 
Summit (EAS).  It was in both our countries' interest, the 
Ambassador and L'Estrange agreed, to have an open and 
inclusive EAS that was not dominated by China.  End summary. 
 
Trilateral Security Dialogue 
---------------------------- 
2. (C) Michael L'Estrange, who recently succeeded Ashton 
Calvert as Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and 
Trade (DFAT), told the Ambassador at a February 14 meeting 
that he was keen to restart the U.S.-Japan-Australia 
Trilateral Strategic Dialogue.  The meeting Australia had 
hoped to host in Sydney late last year had been postponed due 
to personnel changes in all three countries.  Although he 
realized that the new Deputy Secretary had yet to be 
confirmed, L'Estrange said he was concerned the process could 
lose steam if another six months passed without a meeting. 
Australia would not insist on being the host; L'Estrange 
would be willing to go to Washington or Tokyo.  L'Estrange 
said he recognized that holding the Trilateral in conjunction 
with the U.S.-Japan bilateral security talks, as had been 
done in the past, was the most convenient option and offered 
the best chance of holding a meeting in the near future.  The 
priority for Australia, L'Estrange said, was that another 
Trilateral take place "sooner rather than later" so that the 
process could become more routine and institutionalized. 
 
3. (C) The Ambassador told L'Estrange it was his impression 
that participating in the Trilateral had made the Japanese 
more enthusiastic about the process.  The U.S. believed it 
was a valuable forum for the three like-minded governments to 
compare views on the major regional issues and hoped the 
meetings at the Deputy Secretary level would continue. 
 
East Asian Summit 
----------------- 
4. (C) L'Estrange also raised with the Ambassador Australia's 
desire to be included in the first meeting of the East Asian 
Summit (EAS) to be held in Kuala Lumpur this fall and asked 
for quiet U.S. intervention to get Japan to push Australia's 
membership with ASEAN countries.  Australia was eager for a 
seat at the EAS, but could not be seen as being too eager or 
engaging in "megaphone diplomacy," L'Estrange said. 
Singapore supported Australian membership, as did Indonesia, 
but neither was pushing the issue forcefully because of the 
traditional ASEAN emphasis on consensus, as well as wariness 
of China's reaction.  L'Estrange said he appreciated 
Washington had its own issues with EAS and that asking the 
U.S. to weigh in directly with ASEAN would be 
counterproductive.  Given the situation, Australia believed 
the best route would be if the U.S. could encourage Japan to 
promote Australian membership.  Australia, the U.S., and 
Japan all had an interest in ensuring that the EAS was open 
and inclusive and not dominated by China. 
 
5. (C) The Ambassador replied that he did not foresee a 
problem with us quietly talking to the Japanese and asking 
them to use their influence in ASEAN to push for Australian 
membership, which would be in all our interests.  None of us 
wanted to see the Chinese dominate the EAS, the Ambassador 
added, and his sense was that Tokyo was also keen to have 
more like-minded countries in the organization.  He promised 
L'Estrange that he would report Australia's request