Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russia’s Putin to attend G20 summit in Indonesia, Jokowi says
- The pair’s presence at the meeting would set up a showdown with the US and its allies who have called for Moscow to be removed from the G20 for invading Ukraine
- Jokowi said US-China tensions over Taiwan is ‘worrying’ but dismissed concerns military posturing could spill over into the South China Sea
Ukraine minister warns SE Asia from buying ‘poor quality’ Russian arms
China’s Foreign Ministry didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment on travel plans for Xi, who hasn’t travelled abroad since the start of the pandemic. A Kremlin spokesman declined to comment but another official familiar with the situation confirmed Putin currently plans to attend the meeting in person.
Putin and Jokowi discussed preparations for the G20 summit in Bali in a phone call on Thursday, the Kremlin said in a statement that didn’t mention whether the Russian leader will attend.
Putin’s attendance could also bring him face-to-face with Volodymyr Zelensky for the first time since Russia’s invasion because the Ukrainian president is also slated to be in Bali.
“The rivalry of the big countries is indeed worrying,” Jokowi, 61, said in the interview. “What we want is for this region is to be stable, peaceful, so that we can build economic growth. And I think not only Indonesia: Asian countries also want the same thing.”
As the current G20 host, Indonesia has sought to balance ties between major powers while resisting pressure to exclude Russia from meetings.
In the wake of Pelosi’s Taiwan visit earlier this month, Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry said the world “needs wisdom and responsibility to maintain peace and stability,” while emphasising that it respected a one-China policy as expressed by other Southeast Asian nations.
Southeast Asian countries wanted richer countries to help provide funds to transition to renewable energy and investments to grow their economies, he added.
In the five years to 2022, US investments in Indonesia were less than a quarter of the combined US$40 billion that Beijing and Hong Kong has put in. Companies from China were investing in building highways and high-speed railways and pouring in funds to construct more commodity processing plants.
What exactly did Indonesia’s Jokowi achieve in Moscow and Kyiv meetings?
While Russia accounts for only a small amount of investments, Indonesia’s state-owned energy company Pertamina has a joint venture with Rosneft to build a US$13.5 billion refinery.
Indonesia is seeking trade and investments that boost economic growth and improve the lives of the nation’s 275 million people, Jokowi said, adding that it wasn’t seeking to join any particular bloc.
“Indonesia wants to be friends with everyone,” he said. “We don’t have problems with any country. Each country will have their own approach. Each leader has their own approach. But what’s needed by Indonesia is investment, technology that will change our society.”