New Indonesian president visits China, promises close ties

BEIJING: Indonesia’s president-elect Prabowo Subianto visited Beijing on Monday on his first foreign trip since his election, and was quoted by Chinese state media as telling President Xi Jinping he aimed to continue the close ties under predecessor Joko Widodo.

Prabowo “fully supports the development of closer Indonesia-China relations and wishes to continue President Joko’s policy of friendship with China,” China’s CCTV quoted Prabowo as saying.

The new Indonesian government will promote the alignment of development strategies between the two countries and push for more results in cooperation in fields such as the economy, trade and poverty alleviation, he said. Prabowo, now Indonesia’s defence minister, also said that he viewed China as a key partner.

“Regarding defence cooperation, I view China as one of the key partners in ensuring regional peace and stability,” he said in a statement, adding that he sought to boost defence cooperations with China.

“I also commit to fulfil the needs of Indonesia’s military hardware, boost cooperation in the defence industry and establish productive dialogues,” he added.

Xi described Prabowo as an “old friend of the Chinese people” and said China views its relations with Indonesia from a strategic and long-term perspective, standing ready to deepen all-round strategic cooperation.

Prabowo, 72, was elected in February but will not be sworn in until October. A long-time rival of the outgoing leader popularly known as Jokowi, he is now widely seen as enjoying his predecessor’s strong support, winning his decisive victory with Jokowi’s son as his vice presidential running-mate.