Social Media Strengthens RI-China Relations: SBY

Beijing (Antara Bali) - The social media, which enables Indonesians and their friends living in China to communicate, is one of the important pillars to strengthen Jakarta-Beijing relations, former Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) stated.

"Through social media, people-to-people contact can be built. Therefore, the use of such online communication tools needs to be promoted in the future," he informed Antara in a written interview here Monday.

The former head of state was in Beijing on June 27-28. He was invited to be an honorable speaker at the World Peace Forum.

SBY remarked that the social media can be used to further strengthen China-Indonesia relations.

According to the Ministry of Communication and Informatics, Indonesia has about 137 million internet users while China possesses 650 million. Among the popular social media platforms in China are Facebook, Path, Instagram, Twitter, and Weibo.

SBY emphasized that these social media sites can be used to strengthen the foundation of the two countries' relations.

In addition to social media, bilateral relations could also be strengthened through cooperation in the fields of culture and education, he affirmed.

"We have a prospective future. In education, for instance, student and teaching staff exchange and comparative study are some examples of programs, which play an important role in balancing the two nations' cooperation," he noted.

Such form of people-to-people contact has contributed positively to strengthening bilateral relations for the present and in the future, as a common understanding can be reached through it, he stated.

Indonesia and China had signed a comprehensive partnership agreement in 2005, and it was further strengthened and upgraded to the level of strategic and comprehensive partnerships in various fields in 2013. (WDY)