Government Invites China To Cooperate In Social And Cultural Fields

Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko met with China's new Ambassador to Indonesia Lu Kang/Photo: Antara

JAKARTA - Indonesian Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko stated that cooperation in the social and cultural fields between Indonesia and China needs to be continuously improved to further strengthen relations between the two countries.

This was conveyed by Moeldoko when he met the new Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia, Lu Kang at the Bina Graha Building, Jakarta Presidential Palace Complex, Tuesday 29 March.

"More than two million tourists from China come to Indonesia every year. Likewise, Indonesian tourists who come to China also continue to increase. I see that for long-term relationships that are getting stronger, strengthening emotions in the cultural sector is very important," Moeldoko was quoted as saying. Between.

The increase in social and cultural cooperation, said Moeldoko, could straighten out the misperceptions about the relationship between the two countries so far.

"Because I have to be honest, there is still a small group that has an inaccurate perception of the relationship between Indonesia and China, this needs to be neutralized," he said.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries have been running for the last 70 years with various dynamics.

While establishing diplomatic relations, Moeldoko said that Indonesia-China relations continued to progress in various sectors by maintaining the principle of mutual respect for one another.

"If we have good relations, with just one phone call, then all problems can definitely be resolved," Moeldoko told Ambassador Lu Kang, referring to the resolution of bilateral problems between the two countries that are vulnerable to occur.

Moeldoko also hopes that Indonesia's G20 Presidency in 2022 will be able to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries, especially in the fields of global health architecture, energy transition, digital transformation, and infrastructure development.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Lu Kang said that China sees Indonesia as the most important cooperation partner in the Southeast Asian region.

China said it was ready to support Indonesia's strategic policies, both for domestic and international scale development.

"Respect for each other's interests is the main key, for example, in the issue of Papua which is of concern to Indonesia. China will always support the Indonesian side in multilateral dialogue, and vice versa, sensitive issues in China are also given attention by the Indonesian side," said Lu Kang.