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This handout image provided by Nournews agency shows the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran Ali Shamkhani (right) shaking hands with the Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission of the Chinese Communist Party Wang Yi (center) during a meeting with Saudi Arabia's National Security adviser and Minister of State Musaad bin Mohammed al-Aiban (left) in Beijing on March 10, 2023. Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to restore ties and to reopen respective diplomatic missions after talks in China, state media in both countries reported on March 10, 2023, seven years after relations were severed.

Editorial

China the peacemaker?

In the same week that the US financial authorities had again to fend off a potential crisis from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and reports that tension has risen between President Biden and Ukraine's President Volodymir Zelensky, especially over the sabotage of the Nord Stream II pipeline, China scored a massive political victory in the Middle East.

2 years ago

Editorial

Combatting money laundering

The Finance Ministry’s inspectorate general and tax intelligence division hardly played a part in the disclosure of corruption cases involving ministry officials so far. ...

2 years ago

Editorial

Welcoming Israeli soccer team

The upcoming arrival of Israel has ignited a furor in the country, but as a good host Indonesia should not mix sports with politics. ...

2 years ago

The Latest

No to lockdown: A demonstrator shows his fists as he takes part in an anti-lockdown “Unite for Freedom” protest amid the spread of the coronavirus, in London, April 24, 2021.

Editorial

Freedom rally to disaster

Freedom is never absolute, and in this particular case, it is limited by the rights of others to live a healthy life.

4 years ago

In this file photo taken on March 8, 2016 United States Army General Lloyd Austin III, commander of the US Central Command, speaks during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington, DC. US President Joe Biden has chosen retired General Lloyd Austin to head his Defense Department.

Editorial

Maintaining US-RI ties

Austin’s Southeast Asian trip left Indonesia in the cold as Austin did not even stop by in Jakarta.

4 years ago

People line up to receive government social cash transfers (BST) at an office complex in Cibinong, Bogor regency, West Java, on July 20. The Social Affairs Ministry is working with post offices to channel financial assistance to underprivileged residents from May until July. Each recipient will receive Rp 600,000 (US$42) per month. JP/P.J. Leo

Editorial

Show them the money, fast

With so many handout programs, Jokowi can certainly hope that people would have enough sustenance to weather the pandemic because any source of discontent could create political instability and security threats.

4 years ago

The government extends social activity restrictions (PPKM)

Editorial

Not just about Java, Bali

Unfortunately, while the Delta variant is responsible for most new infections in the second wave of the pandemic that is beleaguering the country, health facilities and medical workers in regions outside of Java and Bali are simply poorly prepared.

4 years ago

Health workers perform a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on a bus driver at Tegal bus station in Central Java, on Dec. 17, 2020.

Editorial

Make PCR test free

Unless mandated and paid for by the government, most people will likely avoid taking the PCR test.

4 years ago

Editorial

Misinformation kills

In a pandemic, real and fact-based information is literally what stands between life and death.

4 years ago

People rest on camp beds inside the emergency ward for COVID-19 patients at a government-run hospital in Jakarta on June 29, 2021.

Editorial

Cost of (easing) lockdowns

We argue that the country can no longer afford another policy blunder that will eventually choke both the people and the economy.

4 years ago

Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan (left) greets visiting Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi in Parapat, North Sumatra on Jan. 12, 2021.

Editorial

Gen. Luhut’s apology

Nothing is wrong with public officials confessing their imperfections, as Indonesia is known as a forgiving nation anyway.

4 years ago

Thousands of people in Dogiyai regency, Papua, rally against racism and demand a referendum on Monday, Aug. 26, 2019.

Editorial

New deal, old approach

Papua’s “new deal” is not likely to end violence in the region, which stems in large part from Jakarta’s refusal to settle past human rights abuses there.

4 years ago

A livestock vendor takes photographs of cattle with a mobile phone to display on a website for online customers ahead of Idul Adha (Day of Sacrifice) at a market in Dhaka on July 24, 2020.

Editorial

The spirit of sacrifice

The global pandemic should humble all of us and remind us that irrespective of our faiths, we have limitations.

4 years ago

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan.

Editorial

Anies-Jokowi rapprochement

The second wave of the pandemic, driven by the Delta variant, has put the capital city’s healthcare system in danger.

4 years ago

Editorial

A different Olympics

Sportsmen and women will have to compete in empty or half-empty venues, live in bubbles, follow strict hygiene rules, and more than that, their bid to win medals is a risky undertaking, all because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

4 years ago

Children rest on mattresses near a railway track as a Commuter Line train passes a low-income area near the West Flood Canal sluice gate in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, in this undated file photograph.

Editorial

Our 'reboot' moment

Indonesia's relegation to a lower-middle income country under the World Bank classification should give us pause to seek a better economic development model: one that refocuses our efforts on achieving prosperity together, in a spirit of more equal distribution.

4 years ago

A worker uses a forklift to load a container of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines on to a truck at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, on March 8, 2021, after the first batch of the vaccines arrived in Indonesia through the Gavi COVAX Facility.

Editorial

Retno’s vaccine diplomacy

The Foreign Minister's "health security diplomacy" is based on the tenet that, in this global pandemic, "No one is safe until everyone is safe.”

4 years ago

A healthcare worker checks the body temperature of a foreigner during a vaccination drive in Sanur, Denpasar, Bali on June 22. Around 500 foreigners have received their second COVID-19 vaccine dose in the city.

Editorial

Vaccine profiteering

We expect the government to take full control of the handling of the pandemic and not to let the market decide who should live or die.

4 years ago

Patients sleep under an emergency tent at Dr. Sardjito General Hospital in Sleman, Yogyakarta, on July 4.

Editorial

Criticism matters

Public opinion is a core part of democracy, and criticism of the government, however harsh, should be treated as such.

4 years ago

Vehicles clog Jl. Gatot Soebroto in Jakarta on May 26, 2020.

Editorial

Making motorists pay

The Jakarta administration should stick to its plan to charge motorists as much as possible for parking for the sake of public health.

4 years ago

England's forward Harry Kane (5th-L) scores his team's second goal past Denmark's goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel (front) after a penalty kick during the UEFA Euro 2020 semi-final soccer match between England and Denmark at Wembley Stadium in London on July 7, 2021.

Editorial

Battles of the champions

Whoever wins Euro 2020 in Wembley, either England or Italy will carve out a piece of history.

4 years ago

Afghan troops stand near an armored vehicle during ongoing fighting between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters on May 5, 2021 in the Busharan area, on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah, the capital city of Helmand province.

Editorial

More violence in Middle East?

While it is anyone's guess as to what awaits Afghanistan and its people after the US finishes withdrawing its troops, Washington's major takeaway from its two failed campaigns in the region is that regime change by force is an impossible undertaking.

4 years ago

United States President Joe Biden speaks during a Fourth of July event to celebrate American independence day at the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on Sunday.

Editorial

Joyful Biden and Xi

President Xi’s speech is more worrying, not just because many Indonesians feel the historical trauma of communism but also because he displayed China’s muscles and implied its readiness for confrontation.

4 years ago

Antique arms: Soldiers stand with 50-year-old cannons during the 66th anniversary celebration of the Indonesian Military (TNI) in Jayapura, Papua, in this file photo.

Editorial

Prabowo’s defense diplomacy

A recently signed defense cooperation agreement (DCA) with France is of strategic importance as it will enable Indonesia to advance the professional standard of its soldiers.

4 years ago

Gravediggers at the Pondok Ranggon public cemetery in East Jakarta move a coffin on Oct. 19, 2020. JP/P.J.Leo

Editorial

They did not have to die

It is crucial to address the Joko “Jokowi” Widodo administration’s overall pandemic strategy, which is more oriented toward protecting the economy than saving lives.

4 years ago

President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo (second right) jogs with Army Chief of Staff Gen. Andika Perkasa (first right), Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Yudo Margono (second left), and Air Force Chief of Staff Air Chief Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo at the Bogor Palace in West Java on Sunday.

Editorial

Mr. President, go Navy

There is one compelling reason why the job should go to the Navy: It bodes well for Jokowi’s vision — set out at the start of his presidency in 2014 — of building Indonesia as a maritime power.

4 years ago

This handout photo from the Myanmar News Agency (MNA) taken and released on June 4, shows Myanmar armed forces chief Gen. Min Aung Hlaing (right) meeting with Brunei's Second Minister of Foreign Affairs Erywan Yusof (left) in Naypyidaw, Myanmar.

Editorial

ASEAN: Sleeping with the enemy

Brunei’s abstention from a recent United Nations General Assembly resolution that strongly condemned the military coup in Myanmar is a crystal-clear demonstration of the ASEAN rotating chair’s reluctance to implement the five-point consensus.

4 years ago

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati speaks at an online press conference about the state budget on June 21.

Editorial

Now, the debt pandemic

The government’s borrowing cost, lately estimated at an average of 6 percent a year (based on 10-year bond yields), is already among the highest in the region.

4 years ago

Medical workers prepare to administer the COVID-19 vaccine during a drive-through vaccination service in Nusa Dua, Bali, on March 1.

Editorial

Supply now, punish later

Anti-vaxxers notwithstanding, the reality today is that there are just so many people who want to get the vaccination.

4 years ago

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo speaks at the closing ceremony of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) leadership meeting in Jakarta on Nov. 28, 2018.

Editorial

Kadin’s unusual race

Reports have it that Anindya was a clear frontrunner before the election was postponed.

4 years ago

Cyclists from Anak Haram Jalanan Ibukota ride their bikes through the bicycle lane on Jl. Jend. Sudirman on April 24.

Editorial

No backpedaling the revolution

It boggles the mind that the likes of Listyo and Ahmad Sahroni, the Commission III vice chair, should feel that the bike lanes are depriving other road users.

4 years ago

Top brass: President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (center) talks to Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel in a virtual event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the TNI at the State Palace in Jakarta on Monday. The President was accompanied by Vice President Ma’ruf Amin, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, TNI commander Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko and Army chief of staff Gen. Andika Perkasa, among others.

Editorial

Sukarno, Soeharto no more

In this style of subtle Indonesian politics, repeated denial can also mean confirmation.

4 years ago

Last respects: Wearing protective gear, relatives visit the new grave of a COVID-19 victim at the Pondok Ranggon cemetery in East
Jakarta, on Wednesday.

Editorial

Jokowi’s pandemic gamble

While it is too early to judge the President’s strategy, the conventional wisdom among doctors and epidemiologists is that it is far from enough to protect the people.

4 years ago

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