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East Asian expert appointed as new US envoy for Indonesia
The United States would ensure that it sustains good relations with Indonesia under the new administration with the help of its newly appointed ambassador to ease the transition and is expected to continue its rebalancing policy toward the Asia-Pacific region, as the country is set to vote for its new president next month, officials have said.
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Joseph R. Donovan, Jr (id.usembassy.gov/File)
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he United States would ensure that it sustains good relations with Indonesia under the new administration with the help of its newly appointed ambassador to ease the transition and is expected to continue its rebalancing policy toward the Asia-Pacific region, as the country is set to vote for its new president next month, officials have said.
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Southeast Asia Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, W. Patrick Murphy, who is currently in Jakarta, said good relations between the US and Indonesia would be sustained through the political transition currently taking place as elections are set for Nov. 8.
President Barack Obama has great confidence in the relationship and has appointed a "spectacular" career diplomat, Joseph Donovan, as the next US Ambassador to Indonesia, who is entrusted to strengthen cooperations, including in areas of trade and commerce, he said.
"This is a projection of our confidence in the relationship, to send such a senior qualified diplomat. And that will carry us through beyond our own political transition that is under way in the United States," Murphy told reporters on Thursday, without specifying a date of the ambassador's expected arrival.
Donovan has largely built his career in the US Foreign Service around East Asian affairs.
The embassy's Chargé d'Affairs Brian McFeeters said there would be continuity in the bilateral ties with the next president regardless of political affiliation, noting that relations have been steadily growing over the past two presidents - Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Obama.
"And that's because, in general, foreign policy is bipartisan [...] there's not a lot of democratic or republican foreign policy issues - although there are some - so we see a strong continuation," McFeeters told The Jakarta Post. (dmr)
