Abstract

There is little doubt that China has evolved to be a close economic partner to Indonesia by the time President Jokowi left office in October 2024. Over his decade-long presidency, Indonesia-China bilateral trade more than doubled, whilst China emerged as one of Indonesia’s leading foreign investors. Chinese involvement became increasingly visible across Indonesia’s infrastructure and development sectors. Some of the notable examples are the high-speed railway connecting Jakarta to Bandung and mineral-processing facilities that supported Jokowi’s vision of upgrading Indonesia’s position in global supply chains. These achievements became central to this year’s celebration of the 75th anniversary of Indonesia-China diplomatic relations, demonstrating that bilateral ties have reached a stronger state than in any previous era. However, this remarkable economic partnership masks the underlying dynamics of Indonesia-China relations during Jokowi’s presidency, which were shaped partly by his struggle to consolidate domestic political power. This seminar discusses the evolving dynamics of Indonesia-China relations during the Jokowi era through a domestic political lens. It also examines the challenges facing President Prabowo, who has inherited both a robust economic partnership and politicised bilateral relations, in navigating Jakarta’s ties with Beijing in today’s challenging geopolitical climate.

About the Speaker

Yeremia Lalisang is an assistant professor in the Department of International Relations at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Indonesia. He also serves as a research fellow at the Asia Research Center at Universitas Indonesia. He earned his PhD from the School of International Relations and the Research School of Southeast Asian Studies at Xiamen University. His research focuses on the various dimensions and levels of China’s rising influence, with particular emphasis on Southeast Asia. His work has been published in The Pacific Review, International Journal of China Studies, International Journal of Asian Studies, Asian Perspective, Asia Pacific Viewpoint, Asia Europe Journal, and other academic journals.