Indonesian marines and US Navy seals parachuted into the sea off Jakarta yesterday in a joint anti-terror exercise, the latest sign of increased cooperation between the two militaries despite a ban on full contacts due to human rights concerns.
The exercises, involving seven US servicemen and more than 40 Indonesians, are designed to strengthen cooperation in dealing with "threats in our waters, including piracy and terrorism," said Lieutenant Colonel Edi Fernandi, a spokesman for Indonesia's western fleet.
Washington imposed a full ban on military ties with Indonesia in 1999, after the country's troops and their militia proxies devastated its former province of East Timor following a UN-organized independence referendum.
PHOTO: AP
The US administration is keen to resume ties with the military in Indonesia, which is the world's most populous Muslim nation and a key country in the war on terror. Islamic militants with links to al-Qaeda have launched three bloody attacks on western targets in Indonesia since 2002.
The country's vast waterways are of particular concern, especially the Malacca Strait, which separates Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The US has warned a terrorist attack in the strategic waterway could cripple world trade.
Yesterday's exercises came under an exchange program that was reinstated last year, US embassy spokesman Max Kwak said last week when the program began with classroom sessions. The drills, which do not involve any firing of weapons, are designed to boost anti-terror cooperation, he said.
Apart from yesterday's parachute drop, which was witnessed by an Associated Press photographer on the nearby island of Laki, those taking part in the drills would also practice sea survival, navigation and ship boarding in the case of a hijacking, Fernandi said.
"Things are going really well. We are sharing our experiences," he said.
The exercises, which are taking part close to a chain of more than 100 mostly uninhabited islands a short boat ride north of the Indonesian capital, are scheduled to continue through May 13.
Moves to restore full military ties got a boost after the Dec. 26 tsunami devastated much of Indonesia's Aceh province.
Washington dispatched a Navy carrier group to the region, which cooperated closely with Indonesia's military in distributing aid and treating survivors.
However, Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick told reporters in Jakarta Saturday that full ties would not be restored until Jakarta brought the killers of two US schoolteachers in Papua three years ago to justice.
In February, Washington restored a training program for Indonesian officers, a move generally viewed as a first step in lifting the ban.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese