Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi responded to a report by the United States Department of Defense (Pentagon) which stated that Indonesia was a country considered by China as a location for military logistics facilities.
"I want to emphasize that under the lines and principles of Indonesian foreign policy, Indonesian territory cannot and will not a base or military base or facility for any country," Retno said at a virtual press statement on Friday.
The Pentagon's annual report entitled "Military and Security Development Involving the People's Republic of China 2020" reveals China's plan to build a military logistics network in the Asia Pacific.
The Nikkei Asian Review reported, Wednesday (2/9), in the 200-page report, China considers Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and other countries in Africa and Central Asia as the right locations to realize the agenda.
The Chinese government has criticized the Pentagon report, which also stated that China wants to double the number of nuclear warheads in the next decade.
The report reveals that China has matched or surpassed the US military might in several areas of defense. The Chinese Ministry of Defense insisted that the Chinese military completely misinterpreted and defamed the report.
The Chinese government says the report is the latest example of the US fear of justifying its own military budget as the highest in the world. (Antaranews)