VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - The White House is making plans for a face-to-face meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in San Francisco next month as the two countries seek to stabilize troubled relations, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

Ties between the world's two largest economies have been strained in recent years due to a number of issues including Taiwan, the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, allegations of spying, human rights issues and trade tariffs, among others.

The newspaper, which cited senior unidentified U.S. officials, quoted one of them as saying the possibility of a meeting was "pretty firm."

"We're beginning the process" of planning, the official was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not comment specifically on the newspaper report. A spokesperson of the embassy said in an emailed statement that the two countries remained in communication and needed to expand "good faith" cooperation. The White House did not have an immediate comment.

The meeting would follow other high-level engagements between the two countries in recent months that have seen visits from U.S. officials to China like Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in July and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in August.

More recently, Blinken met Chinese Vice President Han Zheng in New York and U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Malta.

Biden and Xi's last meeting was on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia in November 2022, which was their first in person meeting since Biden became president. They previously had five exchanges by phone and video conference after Biden took office.

China's top security agency hinted last month any meeting between Xi and Biden will depend on the United States "showing sufficient sincerity."

U.S. officials like Raimondo and Yellen have recently said the United States did not want to decouple from China but Beijing has expressed concern over U.S. approval of arms sales and military financing to Taiwan.

San Francisco will host an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November that Xi may attend. Xi recently skipped the G20 summit in New Delhi that Biden attended. (Reuters)

VOINews, Jakarta - Heavy rainstorms and strong winds will hit southern China in the next three days as Typhoon Koinu approaches the coast of Guangdong province after killing one and injuring hundreds in Taiwan.

Typhoon Koinu, which means "puppy" in Japanese, will bring heavy rain along the coasts of Guangdong and neighbouring Fujian province in the next three days, China's National Meteorological Centre (NMC) said.

The NMC said rainfall in Guangdong could reach more than 300 millimetres. It also issued a yellow alert for strong winds, the third highest in a four-coloured warning system.

Guangdong province has suspended dozens of ferry routes since late Thursday and the NMC warned tourists to stay away from beach resorts on the last day of a week-long national holiday on Friday.

Typhoon Koinu was travelling around 144 kph (89 mph) off the coast of the southern Guangdong city of Shanwei as of 8 a.m. on Friday, said the NMC, slowing down from the 252 kph (156mph) on Thursday in Taiwan.

The typhoon is expected to weaken into a strong tropical storm from late Friday and grow weaker as it heads west along China's southern coast, it said.

Typhoon Koinu killed one person and injured almost 400 people in Taiwan, causing the most extensive damage on remote Orchid Island off Taiwan's east coast and home to around 5,000 people, although no one was injured on the island.

More than 70 boats were overturned or sunk in a harbour on the island, two schools were seriously damaged and power cut due to the typhoon. An air force helicopter was flying in engineers to restore electricity on Friday. (Reuters)

VOINews, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo told officials that the modernization of the military armament or defense equipment system must be made an important focus of efforts to develop investment in Indonesia's defense sector.

During the commemoration of the 78th anniversary of the National Defense Forces (TNI) at National Monument (Monas) Square, Jakarta, Widodo directed officials to prioritize the budget for purchasing domestically made defense system products.

There needs to be a transfer of technology to the domestic defense industry if foreign products are purchased, he added.

"The modernization of defense equipment must be an important part of developing domestic defense industry investment. So, this must be encouraged by technology transfer, increasing HR (human resources), and prioritizing domestic products," he said.

"Related to this, I ask to use the budget, which is difficult to collect and is money from the people, to be spent and returned to the people," added the President.

He also asked that the defense equipment purchasing policies be made wisely and considering budget priorities for other needs outside the defense sector.

"The modernization of defense equipment is very necessary, but state finances and our state budget are very limited, and the need for people's welfare is very large. Therefore, spending on state defense equipment must be done wisely in terms of method and allocation," he explained.

After taking part in the TNI's 78th anniversary parade and defile, Widodo noted that the quality of the defense equipment that currently strengthens the TNI needs to be improved.

"We need to evaluate it, but, in general, I think it's good," he said.

Meanwhile, TNI commander, Admiral Yudo Margono, stressed that the modernization of defense equipment is a need that must be met.

"However, according to priorities, modernization cannot be carried out immediately as a whole, but in stages," he said.

If the modernization of defense equipment is carried out taking into account the priority scale, the use of the budget will be on target, he added.

At the commemoration of the TNI's 78th anniversary at Monas, President Widodo and invited guests observed a parade displaying hundreds of main weapons systems from the three TNI units.

A number of domestically made defense equipment were also displayed, such as the P6 ATAV light attack tactical vehicle, "Maung" close combat light tactical vehicle, "Anoa" armored vehicle, "Komodo" light armored vehicle, and Sergap E-Tactical electric dirt bike.

Other defense equipment that were also displayed included weapons and missile systems, such as the anti-submarine MK-46 Torpedo, MK-44 Torpedo, sea bombs, anti-surface ship Exocet MM38 Missiles, Steamgas Torpedoes, and SUT Torpedoes.

Yakhont Missile, Exocet MM40 B3 Missile, VL MICA Missile, C-802 Missile, C-705 Missile, Blackshark Torpedo, A244S Torpedo, P-15 Termit Missile, Mistral Missile, AL-1M Missile, Seacat Missile, and Astros II MK 6 Missile Launcher were also displayed during the commemoration.

A number of defense equipment made since 1960 were also on display, such as the PT 76 Amphibious Tank and the BTR 50 P amphibious landing tank. These weapons systems are currently strengthening the Indonesian Navy's Marine Corps. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Chief of the Presidential Staff (KSP), Moeldoko, received South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) Minister Eom Dong-hwan here on Thursday to discuss the Korean Fighter X and Indonesia Fighter X (KFX/IFX) development cooperation.

Moeldoko said that the development of the KFX/IFX fighter aircraft can continue because defense industry cooperation is important for Indonesia and South Korea's diplomatic relations, which enter 50 years this year.

"According to the President's directive, this cooperation can continue, because (this is) one of the strategic cooperations, both for long-term defense infrastructure and technology knowledge transfer," he added.

The KFX/IFX development cooperation is under the auspices of Indonesia's Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs and the Defense Ministry.

The cooperation will include the transfer of fighter aircraft technology from South Korea to Indonesia. The project is expected to produce 120 fighter jets for South Korea and 48 fighter jets for Indonesia.

Moeldoko further explained that the Indonesian government, through the KSP, the Defense Ministry, the Finance Ministry, and the Indonesian Military (TNI), has continued to seek breakthroughs in continuing the KFX/IFX cooperation.

Meanwhile, Minister Eom lauded Indonesia's commitment to continuing the KFX/IFX cooperation.

"This is in line with the agreement of the leaders of the two countries, that Indonesia and Korea are the best partners," he said.

The continuation of the cooperation was marked by the 78th anniversary of the National Defense Forces (TNI) on Thursday.

In a meeting on Monday (October 2, 2023) with the Defense Ministry, Finance Ministry, Foreign Affairs Ministry, and the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), Moeldoko emphasized that the KFX/IFX cooperation program must be carefully prepared and seriously considered.

"This collaboration has put a stake in the political relations between Indonesia and South Korea. We have to consider it seriously," he said. (Antaranews)