JAKARTA: China and Indonesia held their first Senior Officials’ Meeting of the Joint Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue on Tuesday.
Experts believe that cooperation between Beijing and Jakarta will set an example for other ASEAN member states while contributing to stabilizing the situation in the South China Sea.
As agreed between China and Indonesia, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Sun Weidong and Deputy Director of the Office for International Military Cooperation of the Central Military Commission Zhang Baoqun led a delegation to Jakarta on Monday to attend the first Senior Officials’ Meeting of the China-Indonesia Joint Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue.
Sun and Zhang and their Indonesian counterparts Abdul Kadir Jailani, Director General of Asia-Pacific and African Affairs at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Brigadier General Oktaheroe Ramsi, Secretary Directorate General for Defense Strategy at the Indonesian Ministry of Defense, co-chaired the Dialogue in Jakarta on Tuesday.
The two sides exchanged in-depth views on China-Indonesia relations, diplomatic and defense strategic cooperation and reached a series of consensuses.
The senior officials’ meeting marks the official launch of the “2+2” mechanism between the two countries and a new level of strategic mutual trust between the two countries. The two sides spoke highly of the development of China-Indonesia relations and expressed their willingness to strengthen communication and coordination, continuously enhance bilateral political and security cooperation and friendly mutual trust, and push for new progress in the building of a China-Indonesia community with a shared future.
China also expounded stances and propositions on issues concerning China’s core interests and major concerns such as Taiwan question and the South China Sea. Indonesia congratulated China on the successful convening of the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, reiterated its firm adherence to the one-China principle, and advocated properly managing differences through peace negotiations and maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea.
The two sides are also expected to discuss the negotiations on the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea, with a view to reaching an agreement on the COC as soon as possible.
In addition, the two sides will likely continue to focus on the Belt and Road Initiative and discuss ways to strengthen economic and trade cooperation under the framework of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the upgraded China-ASEAN Free Trade Area.
The 2+2 dialogue came after the Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto visited Beijing this April, with observers saying that the visit was crucial not only for the development of bilateral relations for at least the next five years, but also injects positivity and stability into the whole ASEAN region.
According to the Xinhua News Agency, Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun also met with Prabowo during the visit. Dong said the Chinese military is willing to work with the Indonesian military to consolidate their strategic mutual trust, promote joint exercises and training, and enhance personnel exchanges to take their practical cooperation to a new height.
The China-Indonesia 2+2 dialogue takes place shortly after the Philippines continued to ignore China’s sincere efforts to calm tensions by sending an air force aircraft to illegally enter the airspace over China’s Huangyan Dao (also known as Huangyan Island) in the South China Sea on Thursday, a move that was met with professional and legitimate responses by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Southern Theater Command.
