Just read this news at Antara.
Indonesia, China to develop missiles - Antara
JAKARTA, May 17 (Reuters) - Indonesia and China will work together
to develop short-range guided missiles as ties between the two
large Asian countries warm, the official Antara news agency
reported on Tuesday.
Research and Technology Minister Kusmayanto Kadiman, quoted by
Antara, said the idea had been around since 2002 but was only made
concrete when Chinese President Hu Jintao met President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta last month.
The missile agreement would be signed when Yudhoyono visits China
in June or July, Kadiman said, adding that the missiles to be
developed with China would have a range of 15-30 km (9-19
miles).
China has one of the most advanced missile programmes in the
region.
As part of the plan, Indonesian scientists would be able to
dismantle Chinese missiles and study their systems so Indonesia
could produce similar missiles, Kadiman said.
Indonesia does not have a major missile programme. The country has
also been unable to buy weapons from traditional supplier the
United States because of a ban put in place following violence in
neighbouring East Timor in the 1990s.
For years, the world's most populous Muslim nation has seen its
main enemies as internal, such as separatist movements.
The warming in ties between Indonesia and China follows a long,
uneasy history.
Diplomatic ties were broken in 1967 after Jakarta accused Beijing
of backing an attempted coup by the Communist Party of Indonesia.
In an anti-communist crackdown that followed the coup, hundreds of
thousands of people, mainly ethnic Chinese, were killed.
Relations were not restored until 1990, but intermittent violence
against Indonesia's ethnic Chinese community, which arouses public
anger in China, had made for a brittle friendship.
Indonesia has said Chinese statistics show annual two-way trade at
$14 billion while Jakarta puts it at $9 billion.
Given the range, Singapore is within Jakarta's missile range.
