Editor’s Note for Thursday, November 17, 2022
A note for Access newsletter readers from Jeremy Goldkorn.
My thoughts today:
“The most important country that people routinely overlook” is how The Economist, a newspaper based in London, today described Indonesia.
The G20 summit and a subsequent bilateral meeting between the southeast Asian nation’s president Joko Widodo and Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 have just ended in Bali, the Indonesian island that hosted the gathering of global leaders.
Bali is perhaps best known for its Hindu-Buddhist religion amid Indonesia’s Muslim majority, and its dance, shadow puppetry, and gamelan music. It’s also a tourist hotspot and one of the best places to surf in Asia. But perhaps in the future, Bali will be best known as the place where 21st century geopolitics crystalized, along these lines:
- No country can ignore China — just like no country can avoid dealing with the U.S.;
- Washington and Beijing have to keep talking even if through clenched teeth;
- Indonesia and other middle powers (think Ukraine, Brazil, Australia, Israel) have the ability to dramatically sway world events;
- Russia is a pariah, but very few countries can wash their hands completely;
- China will always blame Canada.
On a related note, we’re looking for a Southeast Asia correspondent: If you know anyone who might be interested and is qualified, please ask them to email jobs@thechinaproject.com.
Our word of the day is yìnní 印尼, a common Chinese-language abbreviation for Indonesia (印度尼西亚 yìndùníxīyà).
—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief
