Medan, Indonesia – When Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo meets Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on the first leg of a three-country tour of Asia, trade and investment will be high on the agenda.
Widodo’s visit on Monday is the first trip by a foreign leader to China since the Winter Olympics in February due to Beijing’s adoption of an ultra-strict “zero Covid” policy that has limited visits from foreign dignitaries.
Widodo is due to meet Xi on Tuesday, before departing for Japan and South Korea for talks with their respective leaders later in the week.
Speaking to media on Thursday ahead of the trip, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said Widodo’s talks with Xi would focus on trade and investment.
China is Indonesia’s biggest trading partner, with bilateral trade and foreign investment reaching $110 billion and $3.2 billion respectively last year.
Trissia Wijaya, a researcher at the Center for Indonesian Policy Studies, said Widodo’s visit would be mutually beneficial.
“It seems that Xi Jinping is taking this opportunity to highlight Beijing’s position that it is gradually ready to open its doors to foreign dignitaries and give a strong signal that Beijing is watching regional development closely despite its zero Covid policy. ‘,” Wijaya told Al Jazeera.
“It is also a golden opportunity for Indonesia to discuss various economic issues, especially on the investment side involving China.”
Wijaya said issues could include a long-delayed high-speed rail project involving Indonesian and Chinese state-owned companies.
Indonesia’s first high-speed railway, under construction for six years, will connect Jakarta and the city of Bandung using China’s CR400AF “Fuxing” high-speed trains, which are the fastest in the world.
“On the Chinese side, there is still no clarity on what caused this project to continue to be delayed,” Wijaya said. “This fast train will be Jokowi’s legacy, and of course Jokowi wants this project to be operational at least before 2024.”
Analysts also pointed to the timing of Widodo’s visit ahead of the G20 summit to be held in Bali in November.
Indonesia currently holds the annual chairmanship of the 19-nation economic forum and the European Union, and Jokowi recently undertook several other trips to G20 countries, including Russia, where he spoke with President Vladimir Putin of the ongoing war with Ukraine and the restart. exports of food and agricultural products from both countries.
“Most likely this trip is related to the G20 event and Chinese investments in the future,” Siwage Dharma Negara, senior researcher at the Iseas Yusof Ishak Institute, told Al Jazeera.
“The challenge will be when will the pandemic be over? China’s “zero Covid” policy will affect investment in Indonesia and other countries, and Jokowi will seek support from G20 countries to attend the November summit in Bali.
On Thursday, Marsudi, Indonesia’s foreign minister, said Indonesia appreciates the strong support of all G20 member countries, including China, Japan and Korea.
“In the midst of a global situation filled with unhealthy rivalries and the diminishing value of multilateralism, Indonesia will actually be more active in establishing the spirit of cooperation, solidarity and peace,” she said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press briefing on Thursday that the talks will also focus on “an in-depth exchange of views covering bilateral relations and major regional and international issues.”
Over the years, China-Indonesia relations have sometimes been strained.
“Indonesia’s main concern when it comes to security issues with China is about sovereignty,” research analyst Uday Bakhshi told Al Jazeera.
“Indonesia and China do not have a formal dispute in the South China Sea. However, parts of Indonesia’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) are claimed by China as part of its Nine Dash Line. This has been one of the main sources of diplomatic tension between the two countries.
Chinese Coast Guard vessels have entered Indonesia’s EEZ and come within 12 nautical miles (22 km) of Indonesia several times over the past decade. Authorities have also recovered suspected Chinese surveillance drones in waters off South Sulawesi, the Riau Islands and East Java since 2019.
“Indonesia is very nationalistic, but the authorities have often tried to play down these incidents. This is mainly due to the economic relations between the two countries,” Bakhshi said.
Yohanes Sulaiman, senior lecturer in international relations at Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani in Bandung, said relations between the two countries “remain tenuous”.
“On the one hand, Indonesia needs China because of China’s huge economy, as a source of investment and trade,” Sulaiman told Al Jazeera.
“On the other hand, Indonesia remains wary of China as a source of trouble, especially security. Over the past decade, after China’s growing belligerence in the South China Sea, its preference for Indonesia has diminished.
Trust in China has declined among Indonesians, according to a 2021 survey by the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank.
When asked which country was most important to Indonesia’s economy, 18% of respondents chose the United States and 12% said China, while 30% favored Chinese investment, compared to 42 % in favor of American investments.
While a 2011 poll by the institute found that a majority of Indonesians thought China would be Asia’s biggest economic power, only 31% now think that way.
Sulaiman said perceptions have not been helped by some of the unflattering media coverage that has followed Chinese economic interests in Indonesia.
“China’s investments in Indonesia have been plagued by reports of Chinese workers coming to Indonesia to replace local workers and bypassing the country’s quarantine during COVID,” he said.