Australian-Indonesian relations have always had their ebb and flow - East Timor, the boat people, and the Bali Bombings are only the latest things to rock the relationship.
And I'm pretty sure they knew we're spying on them (or tried to) - and I'd put my money that they were spying on us as well.
The mock outrage is amusing, but unless you've been living under a rock, you'd know that nation states do these sorts of antics all the time.
People like Assange and Snowden seem to love rocking the boat, and causing trouble - but spying and diplomacy have been a part of state relations from before cuneiform writing.
Quite frankly, I'd much rather professional diplomats play these sorts of games, and we get to live in relative peace, than the outright carnage, war and bloodshet that characterised the thousands of years before this.
Huh? So the causal difference between the peace we now enjoy and the carnage the world used to endure is that there is now more spying?
You could argue that Indonesia has a muslim radical problem as well, but at least the govt recognises it as a problem. Indonesia seems to be trying to become more democratic and neutral in religious matters, whereas I'm not sure Malaysia has the same degree of commitment or willpower.
A better story from earlier today: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6752274
Every government engages in espionage, including Indonesia. Very few details are known about this particular case.
Snowden is the point of interest here.
it's all part of the big puppet show they put up for our benefit ;)
