Indonesian President-elect Subianto visits China in bid to strengthen ties

BEIJING (AP) — Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto pledged to continue his country’s “friendly policy” toward China as he met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Monday in Beijing. Subianto, who will succeed Joko Widodo in October, chose Beijing for his first official visit after his February election victory in a bid to emphasize the countries’ robust ties amid rising tensions in the South China Sea. He will follow up his Beijing trip with a visit to Japan, suggesting that Indonesia will continue to pursue a middle road between Beijing and the United States’ allies in the region, such as Japan and the Philippines.