Chinese minister arrives here

Chinese minister arrives here

JAKARTA (Reuters): Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan arrived in Indonesia yesterday for a three-day working visit as part of his first solo trip abroad.

Tang is due to meet with his Indonesian counterpart Ali Alatas for talks this afternoon before an audience with President Suharto on Monday morning.

Tang made no comment on his arrival at Jakarta's Soekarno- Hatta airport. Chinese officials only said the visit will be of a "working" nature.

China has managed to escape the worst of the effects of regional economic instability and is one of a number of regional countries to have offered financial assistance to Jakarta.

Tang, elected by China's parliament last month to replace Qian Qichen, is returning home from Europe where he accompanied new Premier Zhu Rongji, who represented Beijing at the Asia-Europe Meeting in London.