TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Reflection on the 75th years of Indonesia-China relations
The current situation may be the toughest test for the Indonesia-China partnership, especially for Indonesia's new government.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Then-defense minister Prabowo Subianto (right) and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose for a photo-op during their high-profile bilateral meeting in Beijing on April 1, 2024. (Courtesy of Xinhua/-)
O
f the 75 years of diplomatic relations, the Indonesia-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (ICCSP), established in 2013, is the era when giant leaps occurred.
The value of bilateral trade in 2013 was US$52.45 billion; by 2024, it had nearly tripled to $135.17 billion, with exports accounting for 23.6 per cent of our total exports and 31.1 per cent of our total imports. Indonesia is the 16th export destination partner (2 percent of China's total exports) and the 11th import origin partner (3.2 percent).
Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) data show that Chinese investment jumped from 12th place in 2013 ($297 million) to second place ($8.1 billion) by 2024, with 59 percent average investment growth over the past decade. These figures exclude Hong Kong SAR.
When diplomatic normalization began, relations moved glacially. The consequences of two decades of frozen diplomatic ties and three decades of the New Order's assimilation policy were still chronically felt.
Indonesia's ability to engage optimally with China was effectively hampered by the vast knowledge gap, thanks to the prohibition of Chinese schools, associations and media, restrictions on Chinese New Year and other cultural expressions, and the banning of travel and China-related materials. Even now, the ramifications remain.
In May 1998, the violence triggered additional trauma in Indonesia and profoundly tainted Indonesia's reputation in China. Yet, May 1998 was also momentous, as the democratic transition pushed for eradicating discriminatory laws and institutions from the colonial and New Order eras. These generated a more conducive ecosystem for initiating the Strategic Partnership (SP) as a vital foundation for the ICCSP.
The early partnership era promoted the resuscitation of dialogues and exchanges at multifarious governmental and societal levels. Ideological suspicion, political antipathy and social ignorance slowly diminished, though they have not completely gone.
