Two visits, different perspectives: Prabowo’s landmark trips abroad as Indonesia president-elect raise eyebrows

The visits have generated plenty of media buzz, with outlets highlighting how it is Mr Prabowo’s first foreign tour since being elected president. Some also pointed out the novelty of an Indonesian president-elect making formal overseas visits.

No Indonesian president-elect has ever done so. Cases in point – outgoing president Joko Widodo; likewise for his predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who won Indonesia’s first direct presidential election in 2004.

Still, analysts CNA spoke to have cautioned about reading too much into the developments.

Dr Christine Susanna Tjhin, co-founder and director of Gentala Institute, explained that in Indonesia, there is no legal instrument that regulates the authority and overseas visits of the president-elect. 

She believes the meeting with Mr Xi was a diplomatic courtesy from top Chinese leadership to Mr Prabowo, who was already scheduled to visit Beijing.

“The visit to China has actually been on the agenda of (Indonesia’s) Ministry of Defence since the end of 2023 or early 2024,” she added.

“The appointment of key ministerial positions and the actual official state visits after his inauguration will be more indicative of Mr Prabowo’s foreign policy direction.”

Expressing similar sentiments, Mr Radityo said the China visit might have been planned even before the presidential victory.

“Considering Indonesia is an important player in the region, I would say this is a good strategy from China to show that Mr Prabowo and Indonesia are important partners.”

TWO VISITS, DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES

The trip to China by Mr Prabowo, who is also Indonesia’s current defence minister, was framed differently by China and Indonesia.

China’s foreign ministry referred to the 72-year-old as “president-elect of Indonesia and Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) general chairman” when announcing his visit. A spokesperson also underscored that China would be the first country visited by Mr Prabowo after being elected president.

President Xi himself brought up this point during their meeting. “You have chosen China as the destination of your first post-election visit, and made a special trip to China during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan,” he told Mr Prabowo.

In comparison, Indonesia’s defence ministry referred to Mr Prabowo as “Minister of Defence” in a press release describing his meeting with President Xi. The spokesperson of Mr Prabowo’s presidential campaign also said he was visiting China as defence minister to strengthen bilateral cooperation, particularly on defence affairs.

Analysts say the focus by China on Mr Prabowo being Indonesia’s next leader is deliberate, especially as it vies with the United States for regional influence.

“It is China’s way of posturing, to show that they move faster than the US in dealing with (Indonesia’s) next president,” said international law professor Hikmahanto Juwana at the University of Indonesia.

“China’s move is to ensure the friendly diplomatic relationship and economic partnership under the current administration would be continued under the new administration. Hence, we saw a slightly ‘special treatment’ by Mr Xi towards Mr Prabowo in this visit,” Prof Juwana added.

Two-way trade between China and Indonesia was about US$150 billion in 2022, triple the tally back in 2013. Chinese investment in Indonesia came in at US$8.2 billion in 2022 as well, placing China as the country’s second-largest investor after Singapore.