Randy Mulyanto is an Indonesia-based journalist and a former reporter in Taiwan. Randy’s work has appeared in ABC News (U.S.), Al Jazeera English, the Financial Times, Nikkei Asia, the South China Morning Post, The Telegraph (U.K.), and other outlets.
Mostly funded by Beijing and built by Chinese engineers, Indonesia's first high-speed railway line opened on October 2. The first passengers were delighted, but there have also been controversies, and the project was completed several years late, and at a cost of $7.2 billion, more than a billion over budget.
Indonesia has a tricky balancing act to pull off right now. Like many countries, it’s stuck between a Chinese rock and an American hard place. This is what’s at stake.
Indonesia suspended diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China from 1967 to 1990 and restricted Chinese-language lessons and literature. But the two countries now have robust political and commercial connections, and large numbers of young Indonesians are learning Mandarin.