At the invitation of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Indonesian President Joko Widodo visited China on July 25 and 26, becoming the first foreign head of state to visit China since the Beijing Winter Olympics in February this year.
Widodo is expected to meet with Xi Jinping and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing on Tuesday (July 26). He will meet Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo on Wednesday (July 27) and South Korean President Yoon Seok-wook in Seoul on Thursday (July 28).
Widodo had a phone call with Xi Jinping in March this year. At that time, Chinese media reported that Jokowi said that Indonesia hopes to carry out tripartite cooperation with China (CCP) to help build Indonesia’s new capital. At the same time, it is hoped that China (the Communist Party of China) will continue to support the construction of Indonesia’s “regional comprehensive economic corridor” and the construction of green industrial parks.
The Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s trip to China is the first stop of his trip to three countries in East Asia. After that, he will also visit Japan and South Korea.
Widodo will be the first foreign head of state to visit Japan since the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and he will be the second foreign leader to visit Seoul after South Korean President Yoon Seok-wook, after Joe Biden, was sworn in.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said on July 21 that the three countries are Indonesia’s “strategic partners in the economic field” and that the upcoming meeting will focus on “strengthening economic cooperation, especially trade and investment.”
China is Indonesia’s largest trading partner, and the bilateral trade volume in 2021 will be about 120 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 58.4%. In the same year, Chinese investment in Indonesia amounted to US$3.2 billion. China has also maintained the status of Indonesia’s largest export destination for several consecutive years.
When announcing Jokowi’s visit to China, the spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs specifically mentioned that Indonesia will hold the G20 presidency this year, and President Jokowi will communicate face-to-face with Chinese leaders on the G20 summit.
The BBC, citing analysts, said one of the aims of the Indonesian president’s visit may include persuading Xi to attend the G20 summit in Indonesia in November.
Veronika Saraswati, director of the China Studies Center at Indonesia’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The Associated Press that part of the purpose of Jokowi’s visit to Beijing was to invite Xi Jinping to the G20 summit in person.
She said that due to the impact of the CCP virus epidemic, the worst economic situation in the world, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and the rising tension with the CCP in the Indo-Pacific region, expectations for Xi Jinping’s attendance at the G20 summit are very high.
The Voice of America reported on July 25 that analysts generally believe that Xi Jinping, who has been attending international conferences by video for more than two years, this year’s G20 summit will be the opening ceremony for him to lift his self-isolation and return to the international community.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s visit to China has been closely followed by international media, especially media from Asia-Pacific countries.
“The Australian” (The Australian) reported that Jokowi went to “dine together” with Xi Jinping and became the first leader of a democratic country to meet the leader of the Communist Party of China after the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has left Indonesia in an awkward position over how to keep G20 nations united, the report said, as Western nations threatened a collective boycott if Putin attended the summit.
VOA reported on July 25 that Russia is a member of the G20, but the Russian military invasion of Ukraine has added complexity to this year’s G20 summit and a series of ministerial meetings. The United States and Western countries have called on Indonesia to reject Russia’s participation in the meeting, but Indonesia, which has remained neutral in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, has not listened. However, as a compromise, the choice was made to invite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the summit as a guest.
“Indonesia, like the rest of Southeast Asia, is at the center of the Indo-Pacific region, where China and the United States have been vying for influence,” The Jakarta Post reported on President Joko Widodo’s trip to Asia.
That means Russian President Vladimir Putin will face the embarrassment of being in the same room as U.S. President Joe Biden and other European leaders who have imposed tough sanctions on Russia when the G20 summit opens, VOA reported.
Of course, the leaders of the countries attending the G20 summit can also take the opportunity of attending the summit to hold a series of bilateral meetings. It could also set the stage for Xi’s first face-to-face meeting since Biden’s presidency.
Confronting America never ends well
A 2021 Pew Research Center survey of the public in 17 countries, including the United States, found that negative views of the Chinese Communist Party are at or near record highs, and its global image has plummeted.
The New York Times reported on July 25 that the CCP has become a hostile force to the United States, and Russia has become more emboldened.
The Biden-led White House has delayed the release of its national security strategy, which was scheduled to be unveiled earlier this year. Officials are rewriting it because of the war in Ukraine. The final document is expected to still emphasize competition between great powers.
Biden has said that China is America’s biggest competitor, while Russia is the biggest threat to American security and allies.
Regarding the CCP’s repression of Uyghur Muslims, the US State Department has adopted the genocide characterization of the Trump era. Biden administration officials continue to send U.S. Navy ships through the Taiwan Strait and plot arms sales to Taiwan to deter a possible Chinese invasion.
US National Security Advisor Sullivan said at the Aspen Security Forum on July 22 that the Biden administration has strengthened alliances in the Indo-Pacific region, Europe and the Middle East, and the United States is “fully capable” of responding to challenges from the CCP. As for how to view competition with the CCP, Sullivan responded that when we look at global competition with the CCP, we are already in a better position to deal with this issue more effectively.
Sullivan further explained that in dealing with the challenges of the CCP, the United States has reached a high level of alliances with its allies and convergence of interests, and will compete more effectively with the CCP. The CCP, however, faces all kinds of headwinds.
For a long time, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping, believes in the theory that the east rises and the west falls, and believes that the rise of the CCP and the decline of the United States are inevitable. Faced with such a statement, Sullivan responded on the spot: “About the CCP, the last thing I want to say… Fighting against the United States has never ended well.”
UK Prime Minister’s Candidate Pledges Tough on China
Agence France-Presse reported that former British finance minister Rishi Sunak, who is running for the British prime minister and the leader of the Conservative Party, said on July 24 that if he is elected as the next British prime minister, he will take a tough policy on the CCP. He also called “China the number one threat to UK and global security”.
Sunak’s proposals included closing all 30 “Confucius Institutes” in the UK, and he also promised to “kick the CCP by forcing higher education institutions to disclose more than £50,000 in foreign funding and reviewing research partnerships,” the report said. out of our university”.
Sunak will also seek to establish “NATO-style” international cooperation to counter Chinese threats in cyberspace. MI5, the UK’s domestic spy agency, will be used to help combat Chinese espionage.
In addition, Sunak said it would look into a case that would bar China from acquiring key British assets, including strategically sensitive technology companies. Sunak also claimed that China was “stealing our technology and infiltrating our universities,” “supporting” Putin by buying Russian oil, and trying to bully its close neighbors, including Taiwan.
He criticized China’s global “One Belt, One Road” plan as a “debt that will allow development… to exceed.”
He added, “They (CCP) torture, detain, and brainwash their own people, including in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, and violate their human rights. They are constantly manipulating the global economy for their own benefit by depressing their currency.”
Agence France-Presse reported that Sunak’s tough rhetoric on Sunday will undoubtedly please the China hawks in the Conservative Party, who have repeatedly urged Johnson to stand up more against Beijing.
Bonnie Glaser, director of the Asia program at the German Marshall Fund in the United States, told The Associated Press: “I think Xi had already had a third term before he went to the G20, and he was in a stronger political position.”
The Associated Press reported that the Chinese government also told Thailand that after attending the G20 summit in Indonesia, Xi Jinping may then travel to Bangkok for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders summit.
The Associated Press quoted a spokesman for Thailand’s foreign ministry as saying “if he has no other official duties to perform”.
The Associated Press quoted Zhu Feng, dean of the School of International Relations at Nanjing University, as saying, “The restrictions of the new crown epidemic over the years have caused China’s (CCP) diplomatic activities to shrink, and China (CCP) must face the reality. Although the epidemic is still not over, China (The CCP) must go out, please come in.”
“This is a rare opportunity for face-to-face exchanges on a multilateral stage, and it’s something that China (CCP) desperately needs,” Su Hao, an international affairs expert at the China Foreign Affairs University, told The Associated Press.