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Beijing will always attach great importance to Indonesia: Chen
In his inaugural lecture at the launch of the Centre for East Asian Studies (CEAS), Chen argued that the trajectory of the United States-China rivalry would be determined by both countries’ domestic politics, especially the election in the US.
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Chen Dongxiao is a senior fellow and the president of Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS). (The Jakarta Post/Courtesy of Prasetiya Mulya University)
T
he rivalry between the United States and China has become a hallmark of today’s global politics, impacting countries around the world including the nations of ASEAN. To discuss the escalating tension and how countries should navigate a more turbulent world, The Jakarta Post’s M. Taufiqurrahman and Yvette Tanamal sat down with president of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS) Chen Dongxiao on the sidelines of the inauguration of Prasetiya Mulya’s Centre for East Asian Studies (CEAS). In his inaugural lecture at the launch of the CEAS, Chen argued that the trajectory of the United States-China rivalry would be determined by both countries’ domestic politics, especially the election in the US.
The following are excerpts from the interview.
Question: What US domestic political changes do you think will impact the relationship between Washington and Beijing?
Answer: One of the biggest challenges for the forthcoming international order is the uncertainty of US domestic politics, given that in the past few decades there has been a breakdown of consensus on neoliberal reasoning and globalization. You will see that the US is very polarized and divided domestically on the matter.
If Biden succeeds, bilateral relations on the federal level could be predictable, but how different states would act remains a question. A second Trump administration would see immediate changes to trade and investment.
Beijing has said that it needs to engage deeper at the state level, with local people and communities so that in the future, when changes occur in the White House, it will have some kind of buffer to absorb the shock.
Still on domestic politics, how do you see the Indonesia-China relationship under Prabowo Subianto’s leadership?
