Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indonesian President Joko Widodo yesterday rode bamboo bicycles together as they held talks to boost ties, with Canberra embarking on a diplomatic charm offensive to counter China’s expanding assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region.
Albanese hailed relations with Indonesia and vowed to strengthen them on his first bilateral trip since being elected last month, choosing Southeast Asia’s biggest economy as an early stop in what has become a tradition for new Australian prime ministers.
After an honor guard, Widodo presented Albanese with a bicycle at the presidential palace in Bogor — a city south of the capital, Jakarta — where the pair removed their jackets, donned helmets and rode around the grounds.
Photo: Indonesian Presidential Palace via AP
“Australia’s relationship with Indonesia is one of our most important. We are linked not just by geography, we are linked by choice,” Albanese told a joint news conference held following talks. “Our relationship is ever-deepened by the strategic and economic interests we share.”
Widodo said that good relations between the two nations would contribute to “the peace and prosperity of the region.”
Albanese said he would attend the G20 summit, which Indonesia is to host in November, despite former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison’s reservations about sitting around the table with Russian President Vladimir Putin after his invasion of Ukraine.
Albanese spoke of advancing opportunities together on trade, climate change and regional security with Widodo, who last visited Australia in early 2020.
Indonesia favors a non-aligned position on the Pacific rivalry between Beijing and Western powers.
It is one of several Asian countries that expressed concerns about the AUKUS security pact between Australia, the UK and the US.
On Albanese’s three-day trip, he was accompanied by a business delegation and several Cabinet ministers, including Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong (黃英賢), who met Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi on Sunday.
Wong has previously called for Canberra to place greater emphasis on Australia’s billion-dollar trade relationship with Jakarta — as well as its trade with Southeast Asia as a whole.
“Deepening engagement with Southeast Asia is a priority for my government,” Albanese said, announcing a new envoy and office for the region.
After meeting Widodo, Albanese is to travel to South Sulawesi’s Makassar, where Australia has a diplomatic presence.
He was also set to meet the ASEAN secretary-general — as Canberra pivots to focus on bolstering its alliances in the region.
His first stop after coming to power was Japan, where he traveled for talks with members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, an alliance created in the face of China’s push for dominance.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday vowed that those behind bogus flood control projects would be arrested before Christmas, days after deadly back-to-back typhoons left swathes of the country underwater. Scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers — including Marcos’ cousin congressman — have been accused of pocketing funds for substandard or so-called “ghost” infrastructure projects. The Philippine Department of Finance has estimated the nation’s economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos (US$2 billion) since 2023 due to corruption in flood control projects. Criminal cases against most of the people implicated are nearly complete, Marcos told reporters. “We don’t file cases for
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
‘ATTACK ON CIVILIZATION’: The culture ministry released drawings of six missing statues representing the Roman goddess of Venus, the tallest of which was 40cm Investigators believe that the theft of several ancient statues dating back to the Roman era from Syria’s national museum was likely the work of an individual, not an organized gang, officials said on Wednesday. The National Museum of Damascus was closed after the heist was discovered early on Monday. The museum had reopened in January as the country recovers from a 14-year civil war and the fall of the 54-year al-Assad dynasty last year. On Wednesday, a security vehicle was parked outside the main gate of the museum in central Damascus while security guards stood nearby. People were not allowed in because
A feud has broken out between the top leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on whether to maintain close ties with Russia. The AfD leader Alice Weidel this week slammed planned visits to Russia by some party lawmakers, while coleader Tino Chrupalla voiced a defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The unusual split comes at a time when mainstream politicians have accused the anti-immigration AfD of acting as stooges for the Kremlin and even spying for Russia. The row has also erupted in a year in which the AfD is flying high, often polling above the record 20 percent it
RSS