BEIJING: Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is in China for a military parade commemorating 80 years since the end of World War II on Wednesday (Sep 3), after earlier cancelling his trip over deadly domestic protests stoked by the death of a young delivery rider.
He arrived in Beijing on Wednesday morning, according to China’s foreign ministry, which said China welcomes the move.
Southeast Asia’s biggest economy was rocked by the widespread protests, which left at least six dead and were initially sparked by the handing out of lavish perks to lawmakers.
Prabowo was forced to revoke some of the incentives in the wake of the demonstrations.
State Secretariat Minister Prasetyo Hadi said the Indonesian leader left for China on Tuesday evening and was due back a day later.
“Today he monitored the situation and received reports from all relevant officials that public life was gradually returning to normal,” said Prasetyo.
On Saturday, Prasetyo had said Prabowo wanted to “continue monitoring (the situation in Indonesia) directly … and seek the best solutions” and apologised to the Chinese government that he could not attend the parade.
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Sugiono attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit on behalf of Prabowo.
