Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto is set to embark on his first foreign trip later this week with China being the first stop.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will also host his newly installed Indonesian counterpart Prabowo in Beijing, according to the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Prabowo will also meet other Chinese senior officials. The government confirmed that Prabowo would head to Beijing at Xi’s invitation. Prabowo will leave for China on Friday and have a three-day state visit until Sunday.

“This visit holds significant importance for the commitment to strengthening the Indonesia-China comprehensive strategic partnership in various fields,” the Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Tuesday. 

Prabowo already met Xi in Beijing back in April -- not long after being declared the election winner. It also marked his first overseas tour as the president-elect. Prabowo told Xi at the time that his government would keep backing the One China principle. In other words, Indonesia will continue to recognize Taiwan as an inalienable part of China.

Prabowo will not be heading straight back to Indonesia after meeting Xi. US President Joe Biden has also invited him for some bilateral talks at the White House. After stopping by the US, Prabowo will also attend two multilateral forums: the G20 Summit in Brazil and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in Peru. Gerindra Party secretary-general Ahmad Muzani recently told the press that Prabowo would stop by the UK later this month.

Prabowo over the weekend talked of his upcoming Beijing trip, saying that it was an invitation that was impossible to turn down.

“I actually wanted to focus on dealing with domestic affairs. But one of my first main tasks [as president] is to attend the APEC and G20 summits. I even got invited to China and the US. Uh oh, these two superpowers have invited me. I don’t have the guts to refuse,” Prabowo said at the so-called National Solidarity Movement rally in Jakarta on Saturday.

He added: “For the sake of our people, I have to go there … and maintain good relations with all countries.”

Prabowo officially rose to power just a few weeks ago.

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