VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia has said it is optimistic that bilateral cooperation with the Netherlands would expedite the archipelagic nation's energy transition to increase energy resilience and combat climate change.

"So, we hope it will, of course, accelerate the program of our net-zero emissions target," said Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Arifin Tasrif, at the Renewable Energy and Climate Summit Indonesia-Netherlands, here on Monday.

Tasrif made the remarks in view of climate change, which is causing extreme weather throughout the world. Natural disasters are also becoming more frequent and coastal areas are experiencing land subsidence due to rising sea levels.

"Currently, most of the Asia region is also experiencing an increase in air temperatures of up to 45 degrees Celsius," Tasrif noted.

This situation underscores the need for rapid transformation of the energy system toward more environmentally friendly and sustainable energy use.

Hence, it is important to continue to improve cooperation with the Netherlands to realize the transition toward the use of renewable and sustainable energy, he said.

As part of an effort to script an energy transition and help tackle climate change, Indonesia has devised a road map for achieving net zero emissions by 2060 through the massive development of new and renewable energy, with a focus on solar, water, wind, and geothermal energy resources, said the minister.

He then emphasized the importance of prioritizing carbonization programs through several strategies such as developing renewable energy projects with a new procurement mechanism and more attractive tariffs.

Other important efforts have comprised introducing carbon trading and carbon exchange in the power generation sectors, preparing a road map for the early retirement of coal-fired power plants, and implementing the conversion of diesel fuel power plants into gas and renewable energy power plants.

In the meantime, implementing biomass coal firing at coal-fired power plants is also considered important, in addition to providing funding for geothermal drilling to reduce uncertainty in geothermal development. (ANTARA News)

VOI, Jakarta - Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) pressed for putting an immediate stop to the war between Israel and Palestine in order to avoid increasing casualties and destruction of property.

"The conflict has escalated and caused a greater humanitarian impact," he noted in a press statement regarding the current situation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that was accessed from the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube channel on Tuesday.

The head of state had called on Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi and related ministries and institutions to immediately take quick action to protect Indonesian citizens in conflict areas.

"The root of the conflict, namely the occupation of the Palestinian territories by Israel, must be resolved immediately according to the parameters agreed upon by the United Nations," he emphasized.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry has also prepared a contingency plan to evacuate Indonesian citizens from conflicted areas with several situational scenarios, including the possibility of evacuating Indonesian citizens through countries closest to Palestine, namely Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt.

"We are coordinating with Indonesian Embassies in Amman, Beirut, and Cairo, and other various parties to evacuate Indonesian citizens residing in the Palestinian territories, especially 10 Indonesian citizens, who are in the Gaza Strip," the ministry's spokesperson, Lalu Muhamad Iqbal, confirmed.

Data from the ministry recorded 45 Indonesian citizens in Palestine, with 10 of them located in the Gaza Strip that is the center of the Israeli military air attacks' target.

Moreover, 230 Indonesian citizens are on religious trips at various points in Israel. To date, no reports of Indonesian citizens becoming victims has been received.

The Hamas armed group stormed the Israel-Gaza border fence from Gaza on October 7 and killed Israeli soldiers and civilians while taking dozens of people hostage from the region.

Israel responded by launching massive strikes on Gaza and possibly followed by a ground attack into territory they abandoned almost two decades ago after 38 years of occupation.

The Hamas attack killed 800 Israelis and injured 2,500 people. On the opposite side, Israel's air attacks left 500 Palestinians dead, with more than three thousand people injured.

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) stated that almost 74 thousand refugees are houseRA d in 64 UNRWA shelters. The figure is likely to increase as heavy attacks and airstrikes continue, including in civilian areas. (ANTARA News)

VOINews, Jakarta - North Korea's spy satellite program is an "indispensable" measure to counter U.S. space militarisation aimed at beefing up the United States' preemptive nuclear strike capability and securing "world supremacy," state media KCNA said on Tuesday.

Ri Song Jin, whom KCNA described as a researcher of the National Aerospace Technology Administration, accused the United States of seeking greater military hegemony in Asia by expanding its space force in an article titled "U.S. space force deployment aimed at preemptive aggression war".

Ri singled out a recent trip by the U.S. Space Force commander to Tokyo, and the deployment of a Space Force component in South Korea, where its members took part in joint military drills for the first time this year.

Such moves were "nothing but a camouflaged curtain to cover up the scenario for preemptive attack on the anti-U.S. and independent countries," Ri said, mentioning North Korea, China and Russia.

"Now that the U.S. is getting hell-bent on space militarisation with a preemptive nuclear attack as its ultimate target by massively introducing space force into the Korean peninsula and its vicinity," Ri said, "space development, including a military reconnaissance satellite, is an indispensable strategic option for guaranteeing the security interests and right to existence of the DPRK."

DPRK is the initials of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

North Korea has failed twice to place a spy satellite in orbit, both in May and August, and has vowed to try again as early as October.

Last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un toured Russia's most modern space launch centre, where President Vladimir Putin promised to help him build satellites.

In another KCNA dispatch, an international affairs commentator named Ra Jong Min denounced Canada's planned dispatch of military ships, aircraft and personnel for "Operation NEON," aimed at ensuring implementation of U.N. sanctions against North Korea.

The operation is meant to identify suspected sanctions evasions at sea, including ship-to-ship transfers of fuel and other banned activities.

Ra accused Canada of "jumping into fire with brushwood on its back" due to "blind belief in its American master" despite the ever-growing possibility of a military conflict on the Korean peninsula. (Reuters)

VOINews, Jakarta - Taiwan seeks "peaceful coexistence" with China with free and unrestricted interaction but the island will be democratic for generations to come, President Tsai Ing-wen said in her last national day speech on Tuesday.

Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory, has come under increasing military and political pressure from Beijing, including two major sets of Chinese war games near the island since August of last year, heightening fears of a conflict which would have global ramifications.

Tsai, who cannot stand again as president at elections in January after two terms in office, has repeatedly offered talks with China, which has rejected them as it views her as a separatist.

Speaking in front of the presidential office, Tsai said the strength of international support for Taiwan had reached an "unprecedented height".

"Since this is a time we can now face the world with confidence and resolve, we can also be calm and self-assured in facing China, creating conditions for peaceful coexistence and future developments across the Taiwan Strait," she added.

Tsai said it was her duty to safeguard Taiwan's sovereignty and its democratic, free way of life, seeking "free, unrestricted, and unburdened interactions" between Taiwan and China's people.

Differences between Taiwan and China must be resolved peacefully, and maintaining the status quo is "critical" to ensuring peace, she added, to a big round of applause.

There was no immediate response from China's Taiwan Affairs Office.

The parade part of the event featured dancers, athletes just returned from the Asian Games in China's Hangzhou where Taiwan won 19 gold medals, as well as soldiers marching in close formation.

A formation of five of Taiwan's new advanced jet trainer, the AT-5 Brave Eagle, flew over the venue, underscoring Tsai's efforts to boost domestic weapons development, that includes submarines.

'DEMOCRATIC AND FREE'

In the face of China's threats, Taiwan has been heartened by support from fellow democracies, especially the United States and its allies whose lawmakers and occasionally officials have flocked to Taipei, defying Chinese anger.

"With confidence, we will show the world that the Taiwanese people are dignified, independent, warm, and kind. The Taiwanese people are happy to be people of the world and will be a democratic and free people for generations to come," Tsai said.

Tsai looked back at her major policy achievements since she took office in 2016, including marriage equality, a first for Asia, to an audience that included Canadian and Japanese lawmakers and former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison, as well as ordinary Taiwanese.

Beijing says Taiwan's government must accept that both China and Taiwan belong to "one China", which Tsai has refused to do.

Taiwan celebrates Oct. 10 as its national day, marking an uprising in 1911 that ended China's last imperial dynasty and ushered in the Republic of China.

The republican government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's Communists, who set up the People's Republic of China.

The Republic of China remains Taiwan's formal name, though the government tends to stylise it as the Republic of China, Taiwan, to distinguish it from the government in Beijing. (Reuters)