In two separate interviews with Reuters and The Guardian, the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize co-laureate vehemently denied that the partnership would include a military pact that would grant the Chinese military access to Timor-Leste, a close neighbor of Indonesia. 

Ramos Horta told Reuters six days after the historic agreement that the two countries did not discuss military cooperation, and instead focused on upgrading diplomatic ties. Australia, Indonesia and other ASEAN members Singapore and Malaysia “could sleep at peace", he said, because the agreement would not turn Timor-Leste into a threat to its neighbors.

"Timor-Leste is not going to be a nuisance, a concern in terms of security," Ramos Horta said when asked about the partnership agreement.

It is somewhat surprising that the Timor-Leste leader named Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, although they had never expressed concerns about the agreement. Indonesia, for one, has been silent about the Xanana-Xi summit and the partnership agreement.

By contrast, the Australian government and media openly expressed strong suspicions that Timor-Leste would follow in the footsteps of Solomon Islands, which formed a military pact with China in July last year.

With its economic might, Australia has done a lot to help its Pacific neighbors generously, but some of them have complained that Canberra, a self-proclaimed deputy sheriff of Washington, has acted as a colonial master instead.

Therefore, when China came, they found a weapon to teach Australia and the United States a lesson. As if they, like David, discovered a slingshot and rock to kill Goliath.

According to Reuters, US President Joe Biden was disappointed when Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare gave the Pacific Islands Forum Summit held at the White House a miss last month. Vanuatu Prime Minister Sato Kilman followed suit, citing a more pressing domestic agenda.

At first glance, the closer relationship between Timor-Leste and China today reminds me of circumstances that prompted Indonesia to invade the former Portuguese colony with the full blessing from the US and Australia in 1975. 

Back then, at the peak of the Cold War, Soeharto worried that the communists would control East Timor. Now China, a communist state, just inked a strategic partnership agreement with Timor-Leste, which shares Nusa Tenggara Island with Indonesia.  

It would make sense if some parties in Indonesia share Australia's concerns about China’s growing influence in Timor-Leste, although the geopolitical landscape of 1975 differs significantly from today’s. 

After the fall of Soeharto in 1998, Indonesia accepted a United Nations-sanctioned referendum in 1999, which resulted in Timor-Leste’s independence from Indonesia. The Indonesian military and its proxy militia groups launched attacks and forced an exodus to reject the separation of the territory from the republic. The rampant human rights violations in East Timor put Indonesia in the hall of shame among the global community.

Now Indonesia chooses soft power diplomacy, using its role as the de-facto leader of ASEAN to push the admission of Timor-Leste into the regional grouping to ensure that all nations in Southeast Asia join the bloc. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo hopes Timor-Leste will be accepted as a full member of ASEAN before he ends his term in October next year.

Indonesia has long been dealing with the Pacific nations because of their support for the independence of Papua. They, too, were staunch supporters of East Timor’s independence from Indonesia. 

Xanana exacerbated the awkward ties between Timor-Leste and ASEAN when he threatened to withdraw the country’s bid to join ASEAN unless the regional grouping could force Myanmar's military junta to hand over the power it grabbed in a coup against the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.  

Some ASEAN members that were initially reluctant to accept Timor-Leste, like Singapore, could use Xanana’s threat to justify ASEAN’s move to delay Timor-Leste’s accession into the regional bloc.

In Australia, many have shared their frustration with the smaller and ungrateful neighbors for choosing to play the China card to retaliate against their "blood-sucking colonial master".

"Imagined Chinese ghosts in Australia mainstream and rightwing media," Ramos Horta said over WhatsApp. "Should we wear badges proclaiming our enduring love for Australia? But even then, would the overjealous Australian media stop accusing us, poor Timor-Leste, of being ungrateful [and] pro-China?" Ramos Horta said in a WhatsApp interview with The Guardian.

Xanana and Xi signed the agreement during their bilateral meeting in Hangzhou, China, on Sept. 23.

Xinhua news agency published the full text of the two leaders’ 15-point statement afterward.

Point 1 states that "The two sides decided to elevate bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership".

In point 2, the leaders are "Looking to the future, and the two nations will establish a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to lead concrete cooperation in various fields and promote the well-being of the two countries and two peoples to make a greater contribution to regional and global peace, stability and development".

It is point 10 that has sparked concern in Canberra and Washington. It says: "The two nations agreed to enhance high-level military exchanges, strengthen cooperation in areas such as personnel training, equipment technology, the conduct of joint exercises and training.

Ramos Horta and Xanana realize that the country's huge oil and gas reserves are the only assets that can lift it out of poverty. But Australia is too selfish and greedy and refuses to give Timor-Leste a fairer share of the oil and gas revenue.

Now China is offering a more generous share of oil and gas profits, which has shocked Australia.

Indonesia knows it cannot do much to prevent China from pulling Timor-Leste closer. However, Jakarta believes that admitting Dili into ASEAN is the best way to counter China's influence in Timor-Leste.

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The writer is senior editor at The Jakarta Post