TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Presidential Palace asserted that Prabowo Subianto met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in China as Indonesian Defense Minister and not in his capacity as the President-elect. Prabowo visited China from March 31 to April 2 and met with some high-ranking officials.

“As far as I know, he [visited China] as a Defense Minister,” State Secretary Minister Pratikno said at the Presidential Palace Complex in Jakarta, on Wednesday, April 3.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs previously announced that President Xi Jinping directly invited Prabowo as Indonesia's President-elect. As quoted from the official website on March 31, the ministry’s spokesperson Lin Jian highlighted Indonesia as an important partner in recent years, especially for strategic cooperation under the leadership of President Joko Jokowi Widodo.

Dafri Agussalim, a lecturer in international relations at Gadjah Mada University (UGM), assessed that the meeting was unusual. He said that no president or leader of any country would invite an elected presidential candidate of another country who has not been officially inaugurated yet.

“This has never happened. I was very surprised when reading the news that Xi Jinping invited Prabowo as president-elect. It's not common in terms of etiquette for relations between countries,” he said.

Dafri believed that Prabowo's visit to meet Xi may be related to the ongoing rivalry between China and the United States. “This could be part of China's strategy to 'get ahead' of other countries, especially its rival America, by inviting Prabowo,” he added.

Meanwhile, the executive board chairman of the Gerindra Party Sufmi Dasco Ahmad emphasized that the meeting between Prabowo Subianto and President Xi Jinping should not be politicized. He said it was an ordinary meeting, and the party’s patron chief merely accepted Beijing's invitation.

DANIEL A. FAJRI

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