Indonesia ‘good friends’ with US and China, can play role in reducing tensions: defence minister

Indonesia remains neutral diplomatically and will maintain ties with major powers including China, Russia, said Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto after meeting US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin
The meeting came three days after Prabowo visited China’s Xi’an city, underlining Indonesia’s intent to remain neutral amid US-China rivalry

Indonesia

Resty Woro Yuniar

Published: 7:35pm, 21 Nov, 2022

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Indonesia will always take a neutral diplomatic position and maintain relationships with major powers including China and Russia, though it will defend its sovereignty when needed, the country’s defence minister said on Monday during a news briefing with his American counterpart.

“Indonesia always takes the position of trying to maintain the best of relationships with all nations, especially all major powers. We have openly declared many, many times that we consider China to be a friendly nation to Indonesia,” Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto said after meeting US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday.

Indonesia’s Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin. Photo: Reuters

Prabowo said Indonesia prioritised dialogue on matters of “possible misunderstandings, possible differences of opinions in matters of territorial waters”, but that it would “defend our sovereignty and will defend our independence” in case of intrusions.

The meeting came three days after Prabowo visited China’s Xi’an city at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe, underlining Indonesia’s intent to remain neutral amid the US-China rivalry.

He said Indonesia, being “good friends” to both the US and China, could play a supporting role in “maintaining communications, relationships” to prevent an escalation of tensions.

Our American friends have never pressured us to cease our relationship with China, so we value our relationship with China

Prabowo Subianto

Prabowo noted that Jakarta had not faced any pressure from Washington regarding its relations with Beijing.

“Our American friends have never pressured us to cease our relationship with China, so we value our relationship with China. As an independent and sovereign country we reserve the right to use and acquire equipment from many many countries,” he said.

Asked whether Indonesia would abandon its defence ties with Russia, in light of sanctions imposed on Moscow after it invaded Ukraine, Prabowo said it would not as it had “a long-standing relationship with Russia”.

The Indonesian Air Force’s inventory includes Russian-made Sukhoi-27 and Sukhoi-30 jets, as well as a number of American F-16 jets.

US will provide support to help Jakarta monitor, prevent illegal fishing

On the focus of both countries’ defence ties in the years ahead, Austin said: “Indonesia is a leader in the region, and because we share common values and common vision for the region, we want it to remain free and open. What we’ll focus on going forward is making sure we continue to build on interoperability and focus on modernisation of capabilities.”

Indonesia and China are close economic and investment partners, with Beijing remaining Indonesia’s largest trade partner and one of its largest foreign investors in recent years. Bilateral trade between both countries exceeded US$120 billion last year, up by 58.6 per cent on the year.

In January-June 2022, China was also Indonesia’s second-largest foreign investor with US$3.6 billion in realised investment, behind Singapore, which has realised US$6.7 billion in investments and ahead of Hong Kong’s US$2.9 billion.

What does Beijing want in Indonesia’s Natuna Islands?

While Indonesia is not a claimant in the South China Sea territorial dispute, Beijing sees the waters around Natuna Islands – which are part of Indonesia’s exclusive economic zones – as part of its nine-dash line maritime claims. The North Natuna Sea has thus become a flashpoint in the countries’ otherwise stable relationship.

In their meeting last week, Prabowo and Wei agreed to resume joint exercises and training, which were halted during the pandemic. While Indonesia’s defence relationship with China is not as strong as with the US – which Austin on Monday said “dates back to 1970” – Prabowo has said that ties with Beijing have “grown quite dynamic” in recent years.

Jakarta and Beijing have cooperated across joint naval exercises, training programmes for military officers and think tanks, and fighting transnational crimes and disaster prevention, according to a statement on Indonesia’s Ministry of Defence website following the meeting last week.

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China and Indonesia conduct joint naval drill near Jakarta

Wei said that the two countries’ military should “play a greater role in maintaining regional security and stability as the Asia-Pacific region is facing complex challenges”.

It may take a while for Beijing to level Jakarta’s defence cooperation with Washington.

On Monday, Austin said that since 1970, more than 7,000 Indonesian military and civilian personnel had been educated in the US, and that the US had provided more than US$130 million in training and education funds for Indonesian students. More than 100 American military officers have also been educated in Indonesia, he said.

‘Balancing China’: why Indonesia’s spending billions on US, French jets

Jakarta has looked to Washington to modernise its defence system and capabilities. In February, it announced it would buy 36 F-15EX fighter jets worth US$13.9 billion.

But the deal with Boeing has been reportedly snagged over financing, as Jakarta insisted on paying in installments. Both sides had initially planned to sign the deal before the end of this year.

While the deal with Boeing has reportedly run into financing issues, Prabowo on Monday said the negotiations over the sale with Boeing were continuing even as President Joko Widodo balances priorities such as inflation and food security issues.