Jakarta will host a visit by Prime Minister Wen Jiabao in late April, during which Jakarta and Beijing will mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said bilateral relations between Indonesia and China had strengthened since the signing of the strategic partnership in 2005, adding Jakarta would also seek to expand cooperation with Beijing in multilateral forums of which both were members.

“We want to ensure that the visit by the Chinese prime minister reflects well the multifaceted engagement between the two countries in the political and economic areas, including investment and trade as well as people-to-people contacts in multilateral forums,” Marty said.

He added the meeting would also touch on the China–ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), of which Jakarta has proposed a renegotiation following complaints by local businesses over the influx of cheap Chinese products.

“We will voice the concerns from our business sectors to China and look into possibilities to settle the issue within the available framework [of the CAFTA],” the minister said.

On the defense front, Marty said a strategic partnership with Beijing would be one that was all-encompassing and comprehensive, and would include defense cooperation.

The strategic partnership has translated into a number of cooperation deals, including the joint military production begun in 2008 and extradition agreement signed in 2009. Indonesia has also conducted joint military training with China, whose military budget is the world’s second largest after that of the United States.

The visit by Premier Wen will be followed by a visit from US President Barack Obama, who postponed his Asian trip until June to deal with domestic healthcare reform.

With the two visits this year heralding a rivalry between China and the United States for influence
in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, Marty said, “The visits by Prime Minister Wen and President Obama reflect well Indonesia’s place in the region as a country that has been very much engaged with all the key participants on the global stage.”

Rizal Sukma, executive director of the Centre for International and Strategic Studies (CSIS), said Jakarta needed to foster good relations with all major powers, for what he termed “strategic hedging” in diplomatic relations.

“Just as with our engagements with other major powers, I think the relations with China must
be placed within a more institutionalized framework, which we already have.

“With good relations with all, one major power’s ambition to dominate will be offset by the other,” he said.

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