Sawt Falasteen - Indonesian President Prabowo to visit China this week

The 73-year-old ex-general's state visit will take place from Friday to Sunday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a statement.

Prabowo was sworn in on October 20, pledging to stick to Jakarta's traditionally non-aligned foreign policy while making the world's fourth-most populous nation more active abroad.

Beijing and Jakarta are key economic allies, but the world's largest archipelago nation is trying to stop foreign vessels from fishing in its waters, saying it costs the economy billions of dollars annually.

Last month, Indonesia drove a Chinese coast guard ship from contested waters in the South China Sea three times.

Chinese vessels have occasionally entered Indonesia-claimed areas of the North Natuna Sea at the southern edge of the South China Sea, drawing protests from Jakarta.

The incidents are an early test for newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto, who has pledged to bolster the defense of Indonesian territory.

In 2020, Indonesia deployed fighter jets and warships to patrol the Natuna islands' waters in a spat with Beijing after Chinese vessels entered the area.

Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment on his upcoming visit to China.

On his first planned foreign visits since taking power, Prabowo will also travel to Peru and Brazil for APEC and G20 summits, the foreign ministry has said.

He is also expected to go to the United States and Britain, newspaper Kompas reported last month, citing presidential palace sources.

After his February election win, Prabowo used his eight-month transition period to visit more than a dozen countries -- including China -- to showcase a more active foreign policy than his predecessor Joko Widodo, who focused more on domestic issues like the economy.

Indonesia has long maintained a neutral foreign policy and refuses to take sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict or US-China rivalry, but Prabowo has called for stronger ties with Moscow despite Western pressure on Jakarta.

Indonesia and Russia kicked off their first joint naval drills on Monday.

burs-oho/cwl

Y.AlMasri--SF-PST