President Jokowi should even do more because he owed  Abe, who had acted as a true Samurai when Jokowi humiliated him and the Japanese people with his choice of China over Japan in 2015 as the constructor of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway. Jokowi knew very well at that time that Japan had met all the technological and financial requirements, and that for decades, Japan had proven it delivered what it promised.

On Friday evening, President Jokowi expressed his condolences on his official Twitter account. “Allow me to extend our deepest condolences on the tragic demise of former PM Shinzo Abe. We will always remember his contributions to strengthening RI-Japan cooperation. May the family of PM Abe and the Japanese people be given strength in this difficult time,” the President said.  

He may also go to the Japanese Embassy in Jakarta to sign a condolence book.

It is impossible for Jokowi to fly to Tokyo to attend Abe’s funeral service because the ritual is limited to very close family members and friends. But Jokowi still can do something to convey the sadness of the Indonesian people. Please give the mourning Japan comfort that comes from a sincere heart.

The President’s decision to award the railway project to China in September 2015 was one of the most shocking moments for Abe and the Japanese people. The Japanese felt Indonesia had betrayed them because Japan had completed a comprehensive feasibility study and offered a very generous financing scheme for the railway project, while China practically would force Indonesia to start from scratch.

At that time, Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga described Jokowi’s abrupt decision as “difficult to understand and extremely regrettable”.