China and Indonesia Boost Defence Co-operation

After welcoming Chinese Defence Minister Cao Gangchuan to Indonesia’s capital Jakarta on Wednesday, Indonesian Defence Minister Juwono said the strategic partnership would concentrate on producing military vehicles, aircraft and vessel carriers.

Juwono added the strategic partnership was still at an early stage and the details would be discussed more in high-level talks. "The financing will be discussed further by the finance and national development ministers of both countries because this is an economic issue."

He added that Indonesia would also involve the state-owned shipbuilder PT PAL and aircraft maker PT Dirgantara.

Committee to enhance co-operation

Besides co-operation in manufacturing defence equipment, the two ministers discussed other ways to enhance military and defence relations between their countries. They agreed to set up a committee to look into the matter.

One possibility would be to hold joined military personnel training said Cao Guangchu, who expressed his belief that his visit had strengthened bilateral relations between China and Indonesia.

Half of Indonesia's military equipment is out-of-date and in urgent need of replacement. For several years, Indonesia was subjected to an arms embargo by the United States. As a consequence, Jakarta turned to Russia and several East European countries for weapons.

Last year, Indonesia decided to purchase ten transport helicopters, five assault helicopters, 20 amphibious tanks and two submarines from Russia.

New source

Indonesian military expert Kusnanto Anggoro says the strategic partnership with China will provide Indonesia with a new source for military equipment and will also offer a much-needed boost to the Indonesian defence industry, which has suffered from budget cuts.

However, there are still some issues to resolve, he says. "The first Memorandum of Understanding was signed in 2002 but I haven’t seen much progress since then," he explained.

"There is no national defence policy in Indonesia so every ministry comes up with its own policies. The government should synchronise and harmonise between them first. And this internal fighting is creating a lot of problems, especially for bilateral cooperation with foreign countries."

Chinese Defence Minister Cao Guangchu is scheduled to leave the country on Sunday after a five-day visit.