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.
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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.
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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.
As Joe Biden flew out of Bali, Xi Jinping stayed on for a warm meeting with Indonesian president Joko Widodo to solidify one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world.
The latest in China-Russia ties: The two heads of state are reportedly preparing to meet at upcoming summits in Uzbekistan and Indonesia. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s Caspian Pipeline oil exports are closed again, for the fourth time this year, amid a mysterious outage.
Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Indonesian President Joko Widodo as the first head of state to visit Beijing since the Winter Olympics, as the two sides pledged to strengthen ties.
A major Chinese miner and metals conglomerate and its “Big Shot” boss could lose $8 billion because of short bets they placed on the price of nickel.
Whether it’s trade, the Belt and Road Initiative, venture capital, or vaccine diplomacy, Indonesia — traditionally a major U.S. democratic partner in the Indo-Pacific — has increasingly embraced China.