China and Indonesia have formed an all-encompassing strategic alliance. Under this framework, the two sides’ collaboration has demonstrated a “four-wheel drive” condition, namely political, economic, cultural, and marine cooperation, with Indonesian President Jokowi this time.
Read: Examining prospects under President Joko Widodo’s visits to East Asia
The visit to China will surely contribute to the ‘four-wheel drive,’ encourage cooperative development of the ‘Belt and Road,’ and expand the alignment plan between the ‘Belt and Road’ and Indonesia’s ‘Global Maritime Fulcrum’ strategy. Furthermore, the two sides will expand their collaboration in some sectors. The specific cooperation focuses on improving economic and trade ‘quality’ and ‘quantity.’
China and Indonesia are aggressively pursuing political ties. The leaders of the two countries spoke over the phone in March of this year. Foreign ministers also met twice, once in March in China and once in July in Bali. Jokowi is the first foreign head of state to visit China following the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
M. Raihan Ronodipuro earned a Master of Law in International Relations from the School of International and Public Affairs at Jilin University in China. He serves as an Associate Researcher in the Department of Politics and Security at the Center for Indonesia-China Studies (CICS)