Indonesia, China barometers of regional stability

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JIAN - Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) Commander Admiral Agus Suhartono said Indonesia and China were two big countries in Asia that have become barometers of security stability in Southeast Asia and the Asia Pacific region. Hence, Indonesia and China especially the two countries` armies must work together to improve their capacity and capabilities in dealing with a variety of security threats in the two regions including terrorism, epidemic and transnational crimes.

"In view of that it is therefore proper for Indonesia and China especially their armed forces to work together to build and maintain the regional stability," he said in his written address read out by army chief`s operations assistant Major General Dedi Kusnandi Thamim at the closing of a joint exercise between Indonesian Army`s Special Force of Kopassus and its Chinese counterpart PLA special force in Jinan, Shandong, China, on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the chief of staff of Jinan`s military region, Lieutenant General Zhao Zhonggi said the joint exercise between Kopassus and the PLA special force was a new milestone in the relations between the two countries and the two countries` armies in particular. "Participants of the exercise have not only become the eye-witnesses on how stronger has become the strategic partnership that has been developed by the two countries to especially build and maintain regional and international peace and security," he said.

Zhonggi said the joint exercise was one of the forms of reaction and anticipation towards various regional and international threats."All programs in the exercise have been carried out well and smoothly according to expectations through mutual confidence, experience sharing with an aim of deepening the relations and cooperation to anticipate various threats," he said.

Kopassus and the Chinese special force PLA for the second time conducted an exercise code-named "Sharp Knife II/2012" at the integrated exercise base in Jinan from July 3 to 12. The two forces each deployed 76 personnel for the anti-terrorism exercise.