Jakarta, IO – Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto received a visit from the Commander of the United States Military Fleet in the Indo-Pacific (US Indo-Pacific Command/ USINDOPACOM) Admiral John C. Aquilino and his delegation, at the Defense Ministry building, Jakarta, Monday (3/21/2022).
Matters discussed in the meeting included defense modernization, including joint training and education between the US Department of Defense and the Indonesian Defense Ministry, issues and challenges in the South China Sea, US strategy in the Indo-Pacific region in 2022 and developments in the Russia-Ukraine war. The US is one of many countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia and assisted the Ukrainian military.
In an Associated Press report, Aquilino referred to China’s increasingly aggressive moves in the South China Sea. China has militarized three contested islands and armed them with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems. Washington claimed this violated international regulations because those territories should be freedom-of-navigation zones, so Beijing must not control the sea route in that area.