JAKARTA: Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said he would “always safeguard our sovereignty” when asked about the issue of the South China Sea, adding partnerships are better than conflicts and that “we respect all powers.”
Prabowo’s comments, made while he was in Washington on Wednesday, came after his foreign ministry stressed that Indonesia does not recognize China’s claims over the South China Sea despite signing a maritime deal with Beijing last weekend.
Beijing has long clashed with Southeast Asian nations over the South China Sea, which it claims almost in its entirety, based on a “nine-dash line” on its maps that cuts into the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of several countries.
“We respect all powers, but we will always safeguard our sovereignty. But I choose to always find possibilities of a partnership,” said Prabowo, who has repeatedly said he will pursue a non-aligned foreign policy.
“Partnerships are better than conflicts,” he told reporters.
Prabowo, who is on his first trip since taking office last month, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on the weekend. A maritime development deal signed by China and Indonesia said they had reached common understanding “on joint development in areas of overlapping claims.”
That wording sparked concern in Indonesia, with analysts saying it could be interpreted as a change in Jakarta’s long-held stance as a non-claimant state in the South China Sea, and risked compromising Indonesia’s sovereign rights to exploit resources in its EEZ.
Prabowo did not directly refer to the joint statement in his comments to reporters, but said he had discussed the South China Sea with US President Joe Biden in a meeting the day before.
Prabowo will also travel to Peru for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit and Brazil for the G20 summit.
Indonesian president says he will safeguard sovereignty in South China Sea
https://arab.news/24m6s
Indonesian president says he will safeguard sovereignty in South China Sea
- Indonesia's foreign ministry earlier stressed that Indonesia does not recognize China’s claims over the South China Sea despite signing a maritime deal with Beijing last weekend
18 killed in central Myanmar airstrike
- Two bombs were dropped on Tabayin township in Sagaing region
- A rescue worker who arrived on the scene 15 minutes after the strike said seven people were killed on the spot
TABAYIN, Myanmar: Eighteen people were killed in an airstrike on a town in central Myanmar, according to a local official, a rescue worker and two residents who spoke to AFP on Saturday.
Myanmar has been rocked by civil war since the military snatched power in a 2021 coup, and its battles with numerous anti-coup fighters have brought frequent airstrikes that often kill civilians.
Two bombs were dropped on Tabayin township in Sagaing region on Friday evening, with one hitting a busy teashop, according to a local administration official.
He told AFP that 18 people were killed and 20 were wounded in the attacks.
“Deaths were high at the teashop as it was crowded time,” he said. All of the sources who spoke to AFP requested anonymity for their protection.
A rescue worker who arrived on the scene 15 minutes after the strike said seven people were killed on the spot and 11 others died later at hospital.
The teashop — a traditional social hub in Myanmar — and around a dozen houses nearby were “totally destroyed,” he said.
A survivor said he was watching a televised boxing match in the teashop when the bomb hit.
“As soon as I heard aircraft fly over, I got my body to the ground,” he said, adding that the sound from the blast was deafening.
“I saw a big fire over my head... I was lucky, I returned home after that.”
A junta spokesman did not answer a call from an AFP reporter.
Funerals for those killed were held on Saturday, with some victims’ faces covered by towels as they had been rendered unrecognizable, a local resident said.
“I feel very sad because I knew some of them very well,” she said.
A junta airstrike in Sagaing in May killed 22 people, including 20 children, despite a purported ceasefire called after a devastating earthquake hit Myanmar.
