Chinese defense chief shortens RI visit

Chinese defense chief shortens RI visit

JAKARTA (Reuter): Chinese Defense Minister Chi Haotian met Vice President Try Sutrisno and defense officials yesterday on what Asian diplomats saw as a visit to build better ties with Southeast Asian nations.

The death of China's paramount leader Deng Xiaoping compelled him to cut his five-day visit short by one day, a defense ministry spokesman said. Chi is to leave Monday to attend the funeral the following day, he said.

This means Chi will miss a meeting with President Soeharto scheduled for Tuesday following Soeharto's return from state visits to Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

Chi instead paid a courtesy call on Try, who visited China when he was armed forces commander in 1992. Details of their talks were not made public.

Chi said on his arrival Thursday that Beijing was willing to develop lasting relations with Indonesia and promote peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

"I think this is part of a whole process of building a better understanding with all ASEAN countries, including Indonesia," a senior Asian diplomat told Reuters.

"The idea is to build more confidence and reduce the threat perception towards China," he said.

ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) comprises Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia.

China's sovereignty claims in the South China Sea and confrontations with other claimants of potentially oil-rich islands in the area has caused unease in the region.

But Beijing has also sought to allay concerns among the seven members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), stressing dialog rather than confrontation.

Diplomatic sources saw nothing strange in Chi continuing his Indonesia visit despite the death of Deng. The Chinese leader died from respiratory failure Wednesday, aged 92.

"Deng's death was not a totally unexpected occurence. The groundwork and preparations were already in place. There was no need for Chi to rush back in that sense," a diplomat said.

An defense ministry spokesman told Reuters Chi would visit the holiday island of Bali for a day of relaxation and the military academy in Magelang, Central Java.

Indonesia resumed diplomatic ties with China only in 1990 after severing them following a 1965 coup attempt by the now banned Indonesian Communist Party.