Welcome ceremony as Japan's Suga visits Indonesia

Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga arrived Tuesday in Indonesia on the second leg of his first overseas trip as premier to underscore his government’s aims of countering China in the region.

Suga arrived from Vietnam in the middle of a four-day visit to the two Southeast Asian nations he said was key to pursuing the “free and open Indo-Pacific” vision of economic and security cooperation, and counter China’s growing power and its assertiveness in disputes with other governments over the South China Sea.

Japan is pushing for members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to cooperate in promoting its plan.