China FM warns against Indo-Pacific rifts
JAKARTA: China’s top diplomat Wang Yi met Indonesian President Joko Widodo and his successor Prabowo Subianto yesterday as Beijing seeks to boost its regional influence.
The meetings come after Mr Prabowo visited Beijing this month where Chinese President Xi Jinping praised relations with Jakarta, laying out a vision for regional peace as tensions rise between Beijing and other Southeast Asian neighbours — including the Philippines over the disputed South China Sea.
Indonesian defence minister Mr Prabowo stormed to a first-round majority victory in Indonesia’s presidential election in February. He has voiced support for developing closer ties with Beijing.
Mr Wang also met Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi earlier yesterday before visiting Mr Widodo at the presidential palace and then Mr Prabowo at the defence ministry.
Ms Retno said Mr Widodo and Mr Wang expressed their desire for regional peace and stability, and repeated calls for a de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
“Mr President emphasised no one would like to see any escalation,” she told reporters after the meeting.
“China’s and Indonesia’s position are the same on this issue and Mr President also conveyed his belief that China would also use its influence to prevent escalation.”
Beijing’s top diplomat will chair a session of the China-Indonesia Highlevel Dialogue Cooperation Mechanism today before travelling to Cambodia and Papua New Guinea.
China is one of the biggest sources of foreign direct investment in Indonesia and has poured billions of dollars into projects in the archipelago nation.
Indonesia’s foreign policy is typically neutral and Jakarta walks a delicate diplomatic tightrope in its relations between Beijing and Washington, who are chafing over trade, Ukraine, the Middle East, Taiwan and the South China Sea.
Chinese companies have ploughed money into the extraction of Indonesian natural resources in recent years, particularly the nickel sector where Beijing’s spending has stoked unrest over pay and working conditions.
Jakarta inaugurated Southeast Asia’s first high-speed rail line last year, also a multibillion-dollar project backed by Beijing. Mr Wang yesterday also warned against attempts to create rifts in the Indo-Pacific region, apparently taking aim at a recent trilateral summit between the United States, Japan and the Philippines.
“We must be highly vigilant about various small circles formed in the region and oppose any attempt to create confrontation” between groups of nations, Mr Wang told reporters after his talks with his Indonesian counterpart Ms Retno, stressing the need for the two countries to work to maintain peace and stability in the region.
Last week, US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr met in Washington and agreed to advance their defence and economic cooperation.