TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Prabowo reiterates 'Asian Way' to defuse tension
Prabowo, 72, won February's general election by a huge margin along with his running-mate Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the eldest son of outgoing President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
President-elect Prabowo Subianto gestures to the media as he arrives at the plenary session of the General Elections Commission (KPU) after his main rivals' challenges to his election victory were rejected at the KPU office in Jakarta, on April 24, 2024. (AFP/Yasuyoshi CHIBA)
A
s president elect Prabowo Subianto prepares to enter office in October, he looks set to take a more assertive stance in foreign policy, saying that diplomacy, negotiations, and the "Asian way" have helped to defuse tension.
Prabowo, 72, won February's general election by a huge margin along with his running-mate Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the eldest son of outgoing President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.
In an interview with Qatar news channel Al Jazeera broadcast on Sunday, Prabowo said Southeast Asia had experienced wars, foreign colonisation, and interference in internal politics.
But, he added, "We solved it without foreign interference, we talked, we met."
The comments came in response to a question on what meaning the term "Asian Way" held for him.
Asked about competition between China and the United States for influence in the region, the former special forces commander said Indonesia was very open to both countries.
"We respect you, and are grateful for your past assistance," he said.
"We invite the US, the Japanese, the Koreans, the European. The fact that we are friends with you doesn't mean we can't be friends with China, India, Russia," he added, invoking Indonesia's tradition and history of non-alignment.
At a regional forum last November, Prabowo said Indonesia was committed to its policy of non-alignment and would maintain good ties with both China and the United States.
In April, he visited China, Japan, and Malaysia on his first foreign trip since winning the presidential election.
During the interview, he denied democratic backsliding, saying that Indonesia had seen years of peaceful transfers of government, despite problems that needed to be tackled, such as rampant corruption.
Prabowo added that "our national interests" will guide approaches to the situation in Papua, where armed separatists have clashed with security forces for years.
In March, soldiers were arrested after a video emerged showing a man being tortured by troops there.
