Indonesia Highlights: US Secretary of State Pompeo Visits Indonesia | North Sumatra’s Mount Sinabung Erupts | Indonesia’s Third-Wealthiest Person Tan Siok Tjien Dies

Below are excerpts from the top stories in Indonesia, curated by Kompas.com editors:

1. US Secretary of State Pompeo Visits Indonesia

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has arrived in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta in the early hours of Thursday.

During the visit, Pompeo met with his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi in Jakarta and President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo in Bogor Palace, West Java on the outskirts of the country’s capital.

Speaking at a virtual press conference alongside Minister Retno, Pompeo said that the US has rejected China’s claim to the territorial dispute in the South China Sea.

“Our law-abiding nations reject the unlawful claims by the Chinese Communist Party in the South China Sea,” Pompeo told the virtual press conference. Pompeo lauded Indonesia’s courageous leadership on the sea row issue within ASEAN and the United Nations.

“It’s a cause worth pursuing in multilateral settings and the Trump administration very much supports this,” he said.

Meanwhile, Retno said the governments of both nations agreed to enhance economic cooperation in a bid to increase global supply chains and accelerate economic recovery.

Besides, both ministers also agreed to promote cooperation in the healthcare sector. Indonesia has expressed appreciation to the US government for its assistance in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic. This included 1,000 ventilators for treating coronavirus patients in Indonesia.

Jokowi said that Pompeo’s visit amid the Covid-19 pandemic reiterates the importance of the strategic partnership between Indonesia and the US.

The US Secretary of State also gave a speech to youth members of one of the largest Islamic organizations in Indonesia, Nahdlatul Ulama.

The visit to Indonesia is part of his five-day swing through Asian countries including India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Vietnam.

Source: https://go.kompas.com/read/2020/10/29/174307974/indonesia-lures-more-us-companies-during-us-secretary-of-state-pompeos-visit?page=2