Jakarta. All three presidential candidates -- Prabowo Subianto, Ganjar Pranowo, and Anies Baswedan -- will tackle questions on international relations and geopolitics, among other things. It is expected that the panelists want to know the respective candidates’ approach to the US-China competition.

Over the past months, all candidates have dropped hints at their stance on the US-China ties.

Prabowo’s “good neighbor policy” of being friends with all countries shows that he intends to have Indonesia maintain its ties with both major powers should he win the presidential bid. Speaking at a recent Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) forum in Jakarta, Prabowo talked about how the US helped Indonesia secure its independence. Prabowo, who currently serves as the defense minister, spoke highly of China’s importance in Southeast Asia.

“We respect the US. The US has helped Indonesia in the critical moments of Indonesian history. … The US put strong pressure on the Dutch to negotiate and to hand over sovereignty. That is part of history. We cannot forget this debt of honor. … We also recognize China's importance in Southeast Asia. China is a great civilization. It has contributed a lot and now it is very, very active, and contributing a lot to our economy,” Prabowo said at the CSIS Forum.

He commented on the upcoming election in the US. Donald Trump has announced a White House bid for this year. An audience member asked Prabowo whether he would be able to work with Trump if they both won the election. Prabowo said: “I’m ready to work with anybody that is lawfully elected by the American people.”

Ganjar finds the US-China rivalry can benefit Indonesia on the economic front. At a separate CSIS forum, the former Central Java governor said: “certain goods that these two countries [US and China] refuse to buy from one another. Perhaps we [Indonesia] can try supplying those goods to the two countries.” 

Ganjar tried to dispel doubts that Indonesia was heavily reliant on China -- amidst mammoth-sized Chinese investments in the country. Despite worries over Beijing’s overreliance, China is not the top foreign investor in Indonesia as Singapore is in the lead.

Anies Baswedan not long ago listed China, Japan, the European Union (EU), the US, and Singapore as Indonesia’s strategic partners on the economic front. Anies plans to implement what he called a “value-led policy” as his approach to international relations, including major power rivalries.  

“If you don’t have values, you will be trapped in pragmatism. Without such values, we will only talk about which will benefit or be detrimental to us. … These values can include respect for human lives and territorial integrity,” Anies told the recent 2023 Conference on Indonesian Foreign Policy forum in Jakarta.

“If we hold those values and a country attacks another country, we would say that it is against our values. You may be our friend, but what you are doing is wrong,” Anies said.

Indonesia-China trade totaled $104.8 billion in January-October 2023 with Jakarta booking a $1.6 billion surplus, government data shows. Indonesia’s trade with the US reached $28.7 billion over the same period. Indonesia recorded a $9.8 billion surplus with the US. 

China and the US are among the top five of Indonesia’s largest sources of foreign direct investment (FDI) in January- September 2023. China became Indonesia’s second largest foreign investor ($5.6 billion), while the US placed fifth ($2.4 billion). 

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