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asia policy
Beijing’s investment pledges, especially through the Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank, to finance large-scale infrastructure projects, such as
seaports, that can help achieve President Widodo’s maritime agenda. 14
The fanfare surrounding Sino-Indonesian maritime cooperation at
times gives the impression that Indonesia is strategically tilting toward
China. However, these closer economic ties with China are just another
expression of Indonesia’s pragmatic policy to finance its cash-strapped
infrastructure development. 15 The government reports that in 2005–14 only
7% of Beijing’s investments in Indonesia were actually implemented. 16 A
similar trend is also found in bilateral security cooperation. Although both
countries have announced joint military activities and projects, including
special forces and naval exercises, missile development, and surveillance
systems, these activities are mainly symbolic and add little substantial
value to Indonesia’s cooperation with its traditional Western partners,
such as the United States and European Union. Instead, Sino-Indonesian
security cooperation can be seen as a diplomatic way to showcase Jakarta’s
nonalignment policy, if not also as a diversionary maneuver to gain
more military assistance from the West amid the intensifying Sino-U.S.
geopolitical competition.
On the other hand, Indonesia remains wary of closer alignment with
the United States and other Western countries, lest it be accused of violating
its independent and active foreign policy. The United States remains one
of Indonesia’s top trade and investment partners, and Jakarta has shown
interest in joining the U.S.-led Trans Pacific Partnership. Indonesia is also
trying to deepen the country’s military partnership with the United States
and its allies, including in the maritime domain. Growing concern over
Chinese maritime assertiveness in the South China Sea has led Jakarta and
Washington to conduct military surveillance flights over the Natuna Islands
and the surrounding waters and to plan regular submarine “engagements
14 Ben Otto, “China-Led Bank to Focus on Big-Ticket Projects, Indonesia Says,” Wall Street Journal,
April 10, 2015 u http://www.wsj.com/articles/china-led-aiib-to-focus-on-big-ticket-projectsindonesia-says-1428647276.
15 Rizal Sukma, “Insight: Is Indonesia Tilting toward China?” Jakarta Post, December 11, 2015 u
http://m.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/12/11/insight-is-indonesia-tilting-toward-china.html.
16 “BKPM Seeks to Boost Investment from China,” Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board,
March 23, 2015 u http://www7.bkpm.go.id/contents/news_detail/230101/BKPM+Seeks+to+Boost
+Investment+from+China#.Vnj4UpN973A.
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