Indonesia’s new leader called for collaboration rather than confrontation with China after the signing of US$10 billion in new deals at a business forum on Sunday in the Chinese capital before heading to the US.
President Prabowo Subianto told the forum that his country wants to be part of China’s emergence as not only an economic but also a “civilizational power.”
“We must give an example that in this modern age, collaboration – not confrontation – is the way for peace and prosperity,” he said.
Subianto wrapped up the first stop of his first overseas trip since taking office three weeks ago. He is headed next to Washington – where the US. government is confronting China’s rise – and then to Peru and Brazil for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and Group of 20 summits.
He and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed on Saturday to deepen ties, elevating security to a fifth “pillar” of cooperation in addition to political, economic, maritime and people-to-people exchange. They agreed to hold a first-ever joint meeting of their foreign and defence ministers in 2025, a joint statement said.
“Indonesia is very clear,” Subianto said. “We have always been nonaligned, we have always been respectful of all great powers in the world.”
