China and Indonesia vow to boost defence ties as Prabowo Subianto seeks to reassure Beijing ahead of inauguration
- Indonesian president-elect and defence minister Prabowo Subianto meets Chinese defence chief Dong Jun on first overseas trip since winning election
- They pledge to step up joint military drills and personnel exchanges
Dong told Prabowo that as the world and the region face multiple challenges, the two countries should “work together to safeguard international fairness and justice as well as regional security and stability”.
“The Chinese military is willing to consolidate strategic trust, deepen joint exercises and training, and increase personnel exchanges with the Indonesian military,” Dong said, according to the Chinese defence ministry.
Prabowo agreed, according to a statement from Jakarta, saying Indonesia was willing to strengthen defence cooperation with China and continue promoting the development of ties between the armed forces of the two countries.
Prabowo told Xi on Monday that he would continue Widodo’s “friendly policy” towards China and was ready to strengthen coordination on international and regional affairs.
Xi praised China-Indonesia cooperation under Widodo, which he said hinged on their “strategic independence and mutual trust”.
Economic relations between the two countries have grown substantially under Widodo’s decade of leadership. Indonesia was the biggest recipient of Chinese foreign direct investment in the Asia-Pacific region last year, according to a report by Griffith Asia Institute in March.
Meanwhile, Jakarta and Washington have upgraded security ties. The two signed a defence cooperation arrangement last November as Washington attempted to upgrade relations with Indo-Pacific countries to counter Beijing’s growing influence.
When Xi and Widodo met in October, they agreed to establish a dialogue mechanism between defence ministers and foreign ministers to “expand high-level channels for strategic communication and dialogue platforms for political, defence and security cooperation”.