In this episode, I talked to Dr. Evan Laksmana, a political scientist and senior researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) to assess the Indonesia-China relationship. Are Indonesia and China in a good term? Or Jakarta is too dependent to Beijing? Has Indonesia maintained an equal relationship to China as to the United States?
Dr. Evan wrote in January that Indonesia needs a new strategy in dealing with China. What has been wrong in the relationship? Does he think the same way today after a closer relationship since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic?
We also discussed about the South China Sea. Indonesia is a “non-claimant” in the South China Sea, but in the last few months, especially in the beginning of this year, Indonesia and China have some tensions around the Natuna EEZ. How to solve this issue?
He also argued that Indonesia doesn’t have a clear China policy. What are the reasons behind his statement and who should be the one to formulate the policy? Should it be the foreign ministry alone?
I explored those questions with him and check out this episode on your Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
