Minding the Grassroots: Celebrating 70 Years of Sino-Indonesia Relations amid the Coronavirus Pandemic

Summary

INTRODUCTION

In contemporary diplomacy, the governments are not the sole actors in bilateral ties; the business sector and people to people contacts are indispensable to the process. Where Indonesia and China are concerned, much progress has been demonstrated in the managing of relations over the last seventy years.

Beijing perceives Indonesia as a resource-rich nation with considerable regional clout. On the other hand, Jakarta considers China an economic juggernaut with global and regional power which offers plenty of opportunities for cooperation. Beijing is aiming for collaboration that benefits its strategic interests. It is now the leading player in the steel industry. This also means that it is the world's largest stainless steel producer and top importer of nickel ore. Meanwhile, Indonesia has the world's largest reserves of nickel, a key component in stainless steel. In August 2020, China's nickel ore import from Indonesia surged 26.5 per cent year-on-year. This mutual interest does not however necessarily lead to smooth cooperation. The COVID-19 pandemic and the Indonesian people's reservations about China presented obstructions.

In the Natuna waters, shortly, before the identification of the first case of the coronavirus by Chinese authorities in Wuhan, both countries were involved in a stand-off following the violation of the Indonesian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) by Chinese fishing vessels escorted by the Chinese Coast Guard. This unfortunate incident deepened grassroots perception of China as a hegemonic power that threatens the territorial rights of Indonesia.

During the pandemic, however, both countries have been standing shoulder-to-shoulder in battling the novel coronavirus. The cooperation in this area involves many stakeholders ranging from the government to the business sector to people-to-people contacts. It remains to be seen if this close cooperation in the fight against the coronavirus—which has become both governments’ priorities—will foster better bilateral ties in the long term.

On 29 August 2020, Median, a Jakarta-based survey institution published a study demonstrating the that Indonesian people see China as the biggest threat (31.5 per cent), followed by the US (10.8 per cent) and Malaysia (4.3 per cent).