Indonesian President Subianto Visits China in First Overseas Trip

Beijing: Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto pledged to maintain close ties with China during a meeting with Chinese leer Xi Jinping in Beijing on Saturday, his first overseas stop since he took office three weeks ago.

Subianto is seeking to strengn relations with China, Indonesia's largest tring partner and one of its most important foreign investors. This is his second visit to Beijing this year, following a visit in April as president-elect, first overseas trip he me after winning Indonesian presidential election in February.

“Indonesia considers China not only as a great power but as a great civilization,” Subianto said at meeting, ding that two countries h h close relations for centuries. “refore, I think it is only natural that now in present situation, geopolitical and geoeconomic, that Indonesia and China have become very close partners and in many, many fields.” Xi vowed support for Subianto's ministration, thanking him for visiting China first and saying he believed “Indonesia will here to an independent development path, continue to make new achievements in journey of achieving national prosperity and national rejuvenation, and play an important role on international and regional stage”.

Earlier on Saturday, Subianto met with or top Chinese leers, including Premier Li Qiang and Zhao Leji, who is chairman of National People's Congress and considered No. 3 official in ruling Communist Party.

Subianto is on first stop on a multi-country tour. He is scheduled to visit five or nations, including US and UK, suggesting that Indonesia will continue to pursue its longstanding stance of neutrality between Beijing and Washington.

Subianto, 73, is a wealthy ex-general with ties to both Indonesia's popular outgoing president and country's dictatorial past. He presented himself as heir to immensely popular President Joko Widodo, first Indonesian president to emerge from outside political and military elite. Subianto vowed to continue modernisation agenda that has brought rapid growth and vaulted Indonesia into ranks of middle-income countries.

Indonesia's economic ties with China flourished during Widodo's dece in office. China became Indonesia's largest tring partner and plowed billions into major infrastructure projects such as Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, which opened last October, and Cirata, Souast Asia's largest floating solar power project, on a reservoir in West Java, 130 km (80 miles) from capital, Jakarta.

Subianto said during meeting with Xi that he will preside over signing of over USD 10 billion worth of deals during a meeting between Chinese companies and Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Subianto is singling a more active foreign policy for Indonesia, visiting over 20 countries as president-elect. Days after his inauguration, Indonesia expressed interest in becoming a full member of BRICS bloc of developing economies that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Indonesia has maintained a relatively neutral stance amid rising tensions between China and its Souast Asian neighbours over territorial disputes in South China Sea. China, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims in resource-rich and busy waterway.

Philippines has boosted security ties with Washington since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr took office in 2022, shifting back from more China-friendly policy of his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte. China and Philippines have been engaging in repeated high-seas confrontations since last year, sparking fears of a larger conflict that could put China and US on a collision course.

Though Indonesia's leers say y do not have a formal territorial dispute with China over South China Sea, China's “nine-dash line”, which it uses to roughly demarcate its claim to most of South China Sea, overlaps with a section of Indonesia's exclusive economic zone that extends from Natuna Islands.

Last month, Indonesian patrol ships repeatedly drove away a Chinese coast guard vessel from a survey vessel in disputed area, according to Indonesian authorities. Jakarta has become increasingly protective of its rights in region as Chinese ships have regularly entered area Indonesia calls North Natuna Sea, fueling tensions between countries.