The Konfrontasi, also known as the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation or Borneo confrontation, was an armed conflict from 1963 to 1966 that stemmed from Indonesia's opposition to the creation of the state of Malaysia. Vital precursors to the conflict included Indonesia's policy of confrontation against Dutch New Guinea from March to August 1962 and the Indonesia-backed Brunei revolt in December 1962. Malaysia had direct military support from the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Indonesia had indirect support from the Soviet Union and China, thus making it an episode of the Cold War in Asia.
The conflict was an undeclared war with most of the action occurring in the border area between Indonesia and East Malaysia on the island of Borneo (known as Kalimantan in Indonesia), with lower intensity covert actions conducted by Indonesia on the Malay Peninsula and in Singapore. The conflict was characterised by restrained and isolated ground combat, set within tactics of low-level brinkmanship. Combat was usually conducted by company- or platoon-sized operations on either side of the border. Indonesia's campaign of infiltrations into Borneo sought to exploit how ethnically and religiously diverse Sabah and Sarawak were compared to that of Malaya and Singapore, with the intent of unravelling the proposed state of Malaysia.
The jungle terrain of Borneo and the lack of roads straddling the Indonesia–Malaysia border forced both Indonesian and Commonwealth forces to conduct long foot patrols. Both sides relied on light infantry operations and air transport, although Commonwealth forces enjoyed the advantage of better helicopter deployment and resupply to forward operating bases. Rivers were also used as a method of transport and infiltration. Although combat operations were primarily conducted by ground forces, airborne forces played a vital support role and naval forces ensured the security of the sea flanks. The British provided most of the defensive effort, although Malaysian forces steadily increased their contributions, and there were periodic contributions from Australian and New Zealand forces within the combined Far East Strategic Reserve stationed then in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore.
Initially, Indonesian attacks on East Malaysia relied heavily on local volunteers trained by the Indonesian Army. Over time, the infiltration forces became more organised with the inclusion of a more substantial component of Indonesian forces. To deter and disrupt Indonesia's growing campaign of infiltrations, the British responded in 1964 by launching their own covert operations into Indonesian Kalimantan under the code name Operation Claret. Claret was successful in gaining the initiative for the British Commonwealth forces, keeping the Indonesians on the defensive. Coinciding with Sukarno announcing a 'year of dangerous living' and the 1964 race riots in Singapore, Indonesia launched an expanded campaign of operations into Peninsular Malaysia on 17 August 1964, albeit without military success. A build-up of Indonesian forces on the Kalimantan border in December 1964 saw the UK commit significant forces from the UK-based Army Strategic Command. Australia and New Zealand deployed roulement combat forces from Peninsular Malaysia to Borneo in 1965–66. The intensity of the conflict began to subside following the coup d'état of October 1965 and Sukarno's loss of power to General Suharto. A round of serious peace negotiations between the two sides began in May 1966, and a final peace agreement was signed on 11 August 1966 with Indonesia formally recognising Malaysia.
Background
Political situation
Before Konfrontasi, Sukarno sought to develop an independent Indonesian foreign policy, focused on the annexation of Dutch New Guinea as a conclusion of the Indonesian National Revolution, and establishing Indonesia's credentials as a notable international power supporting its own agenda distinct from those of the First and Second World. Indonesia was an important country in developing the Non-Aligned Movement, hosting the Bandung Conference in 1955. Indonesia had relentlessly pursued its claim to Dutch New Guinea from 1950 to 1962, despite facing multiple setbacks in the UN General Assembly in getting its claim recognised by the international community.
Following the Indonesian crisis in 1958, which had included the Permesta rebellion in eastern Indonesia and the declaration of the Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia, Indonesia had emerged as a notable and rising military power in Southeast Asia. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), primarily through its Taiwan-based subsidiary Civil Air Transport (CAT), had been covertly providing support to rebels on remote islands, seeking to weaken, if not outright oust President Sukarno's regime. Beginning in 1957, the CIA was increasing contact with military leaders in Sumatra and Sulawesi critical of the regime. By late 1957, the transport of weapons and ammunition to Sumatra by merchant ships and night submarines had become increasingly common, but the Americans believed that for their clandestine assistance to be truly effective, such operations required the use of British facilities in Singapore to refuel and support CAT missions launched in Bangkok, Taiwan, or the Philippines.
With the influx of Soviet arms aid, Indonesia was able to advance its claim to Dutch New Guinea more forcefully. The diplomatic dispute reached its climax in 1962 when Indonesia launched a substantial campaign of airborne and seaborne infiltrations into Dutch New Guinea. While the infiltration forces were soundly defeated by Dutch and Papuan forces, Indonesia was able to lend credence to the threat of an Indonesian invasion of Dutch New Guinea. The Dutch, facing mounting diplomatic pressure from the Indonesians, and also the Americans, who were anxious to keep Indonesia from becoming Communist aligned, yielded and agreed to a diplomatic compromise, allowing the Indonesians to gain control of the territory in exchange for pledging to hold a self-determination plebiscite (the Act of Free Choice) in the territory by 1969. Thus by the close of 1962, Indonesia had achieved a considerable diplomatic victory, which possibly emboldened its self-perception as a notable regional power. It was in the context of this recent diplomatic victory that Indonesia cast its attention to the British proposal for a unified Malaysian state.
Before the British government announced the East of Suez policy in 1968, it had already begun re-evaluating their commitment to maintaining a presence in the Far East as early as the late-1950s. As a part of its withdrawal from its Southeast Asian colonies, the UK moved to combine its colonies in North Borneo with the Federation of Malaya (which had become independent from Britain in 1957), and Singapore (which had become self-governing in 1959). In May 1961, the UK and Malayan governments proposed a larger federation called Malaysia, encompassing the states of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak, Brunei, and Singapore. Initially, Indonesia was mildly supportive of the proposed federation, although the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) was firmly opposed to it.
In Brunei, it was unclear whether Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III would support Brunei joining the proposed Malaysian state because of the implied reduction of his political office, and Brunei's oil revenues ensured Brunei's financial viability were it to choose independence. Furthermore, a Brunei politician, Dr. AM Azahari bin Sheikh Mahmud, while supporting a unified North Borneo, also opposed a wider Malaysian federation. In 1961, he had sounded out Indonesia about possible aid in training Borneo recruits; General Abdul Nasution hinted at moral support, and Soebandrio, the Indonesian foreign minister and head of intelligence, hinted at supplying more substantial aid. Azahari was a leftist who had fought in Indonesia in their war for independence. Following these meetings, Indonesia began training a small volunteer force called the North Kalimantan National Army (TNKU) in Kalimantan.
On 8 December 1962, the TNKU staged an insurrection—the Brunei revolt. The insurrection was an abject failure, as the poorly trained and equipped forces were unable to capture key objectives such as the Sultan of Brunei, the Brunei oil fields, or European hostages. Within hours of the insurrection being launched, British forces based in Singapore were mobilised for a prompt response. The failure of the insurrection was evident within 30 hours when Gurkha troops airlifted from Singapore secured Brunei town and ensured the Sultan's safety.
The degree of Indonesian support for the TNKU remains a subject of debate. While Indonesia at the time denied direct involvement, it did sympathise with the TNKU's objectives to destabilise the proposed Malaysian state. Following the TNKU's military setback in Brunei, on 20 January 1963 Indonesian Foreign Minister Subandrio announced that Indonesia would pursue a policy of Konfrontasi with Malaysia, reversing Indonesia's previous policy of compliance with the British proposal. This was followed by the first recorded infiltration of Indonesian forces on 12 April 1963 when a police station in Tebedu, Sarawak, was attacked.
People and terrain
In 1961, the island of Borneo was divided between four separate entities. Kalimantan, comprising four Indonesian provinces, was located in the south of the island. In the north, were the Sultanate of Brunei (a British protectorate) and two colonies of the United Kingdom—British North Borneo (later renamed Sabah) and Sarawak. The three British territories totalled some 1.5 million people, about half of them Dayaks. Sarawak had a population of about 900,000, Sabah's was 600,000 and Brunei's was around 80,000. Among Sarawak's non-Dayak population, 31% were Chinese, and 19% were Malay. Among non-Dayaks in Sabah, 21% were Chinese, and 7% were Malay; Brunei's non-Dayak population was 28% Chinese and 54% Malay. There was a large Indonesian population in Tawau in southern Sabah and a large and economically active Chinese one in Sarawak. Despite their population size, Dayaks were spread through the country in village longhouses and were not politically organised.
Sarawak was divided into five administrative divisions. Sabah, whose capital city was Jesselton (Kota Kinabalu) on the north coast, was divided into several residencies; those of the interior and Tawau were on the border. Apart from either end, the border with Indonesia generally followed a ridgeline throughout its length, rising to almost 2,500 metres in the Fifth Division. In the First Division, there were some roads, including a continuous road from Kuching to Brunei and around to Sandakan on the east coast of Sabah. There were no roads in the Fourth and Fifth Divisions or the Interior Residency, and in Third Division, there was only the coast road, which was some 150 miles from the border. Mapping was generally poor, as British maps of the country only showed tiny topographic detail. Indonesian maps were worse; veterans recall "a single black and white sheet for all of Kalimantan torn from a school textbook" in 1964.
Kalimantan was divided into four provinces, of which East Kalimantan and West Kalimantan bordered British Borneo. The capital of the West Kalimantan is Pontianak on the west coast, about 100 miles (160 km) from the border, and the capital of East Kalimantan is Samarinda on the south coast, some 350 kilometres (220 mi) from the border. There were no roads in the border area other than some in the west, and no road existed linking East and West Kalimantan. The lack of roads and tracks suitable for vehicles on both sides of the border meant that movement was limited to foot tracks mostly unmarked on any map, as well as water and air movement. There were many large rivers on both sides of the border, and these were the primary means of movement. There were also quite a few small grass airstrips suitable for light aircraft, as dropping zones for parachuted supplies, and helicopters.
The equator lies about 160 km (100 mi) south of Kuching, and most of northern Borneo receives over 3,000 mm (120 in) of rain each year. Borneo is naturally covered by tropical rainforests. This covers the mountainous areas cut by many rivers with very steep-sided hills and hilltop ridges often only a few metres wide. The high rainfall means large rivers; these provide a principal means of transport and are formidable tactical obstacles. Dense mangrove forest covering vast tidal flats intersected with numerous creeks is a feature of many coastal areas, including Brunei and either end of the border. There are cultivated areas in valleys and around villages. In the vicinity of abandoned and current settlements are areas of dense secondary regrowth.
Sarawakian opposition
In 1946 the rajah of Sarawak, Charles Vyner Brooke ceded the state to the British Crown believing it to be in the best interest of the people of Sarawak following the end of World War II. Sarawak became a Crown colony, ruled from the Colonial Office in London, which in turn dispatched a governor for Sarawak. The predominantly Malay anti-cession movement, which rejected the British takeover of Sarawak and had assassinated Duncan Stewart, the first British High Commissioner of Sarawak, may have been the forerunner of the subsequent anti-Malaysia movement in Sarawak, headed by Ahmad Zaidi Adruce.
According to Vernon L. Porritt and Hong-Kah Fong, left-wing and communist cells had been present among Sarawak's urban Chinese communities since the 1930s and 1940s. Some of the earliest Communist groups in Sabah included the Anti-Fascist League, which later became the Races Liberation Army, and the Borneo Anti-Japanese League, which was made up of the North Borneo Anti-Japanese League and the West Borneo Anti-Japanese League. The latter was led by Wu Chan, who was deported by the Sarawak colonial government to China in 1952. Other Communist groups in Sarawak included the Overseas Chinese Youth Association, which was formed in 1946, and the Liberation League along with its youth wing, the Advanced Youth Association, which emerged during the 1950s. These organisations became the nuclei for two Communist guerrilla movements: the anti-Malaysia North Kalimantan People's Army (PARAKU) and the Sarawak People's Guerrillas (PGRS). These various Communist groups were designated by various British and other Western sources as the Clandestine Communist Organisation (CCO) or the Sarawak Communist Organisation (SCO).
The SCO was predominantly dominated by ethnic Chinese but also included Dayak supporters. However, the SCO had little support from ethnic Malays and other indigenous Sarawak peoples. At its height, the SCO had 24,000 members. During the 1940s and 1950s, Maoism had spread among Chinese vernacular schools in Sarawak. Following World War II, Communist influence also penetrated the labour movement and the predominantly Chinese Sarawak United People's Party, the state's first political party, which was founded in June 1959. The Sarawak Insurgency began after the Brunei Revolt in 1962 and the SCO would fight alongside the Bruneian rebels and Indonesian forces during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation.