Jakarta. The multi-billion-dollar giant sea wall project had become a subject of discussion when President Prabowo Subianto met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Wednesday, reflecting Jakarta’s attempt to secure foreign funding.

Prabowo had made a last-minute decision to fly to Beijing for China's largest military parade as the ex-army general sought to remain close with the Asian superpower. After the spectacle, the two leaders held bilateral talks, which the presidential press bureau revealed to have also revolved around Prabowo’s goal of building a coastal defense that would stretch from Banten to East Java’s Gresik.  

“[Both leaders] had discussed the giant sea wall, which would span the northern coastline of the Java island, or also known as ‘Pantura Jawa’,” the bureau said.

Jakarta did not go into more details on how open Beijing was to taking part in the project.

This was not the first time that Indonesia tried to woo China into financing its giant sea wall dream.

Earlier this year, Chief Infrastructure Minister Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono had asked for technical support and financial support when he met Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang. Agus had also told reporters that a public-private partnership would be the “best financial scheme”.

The coastal defense is expected to stretch 500 kilometers, although reports showed that it could even top 700 kilometers in length.

The latest talks with Xi showed how much Prabowo wanted to put the giant sea wall plan into motion. It was only a week ago when Prabowo set up a new agency dedicated to overseeing the megaproject that could have a price tag of around $80 billion. 

The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s statement did not mention the project, which aimed to prevent flooding. However, the ministry wrote that Xi felt that both countries “should work for a high-quality Belt and Road cooperation”. They were referring to Xi’s signature foreign policy that has China heavily investing in infrastructure projects across the globe, many seeing it as a move to grow international influence.

The Belt and Road Initiative's presence in Indonesia mainly centers on the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train. This $7.3 billion rail mainly relied on Chinese loans, but Indonesia, at the moment, is fretting about how it would pay off what it has borrowed. Indonesian sovereign fund Danantara is now working on a debt restructuring plan. 

Prabowo originally scrapped his Beijing trip over the unrest happening in Indonesia’s major cities over the past week. The ex-defense minister suddenly had a change of heart, with State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi saying that the situation in the country had already calmed. Prasetyo also mentioned Prabowo's wish to maintain bilateral ties. Xi said that Prabowo coming to Beijing “despite difficulties shows how he attaches to China-Indonesia relations”, according to his foreign ministry.

“China supports President Prabowo’s governance, Indonesia’s restoration of order and stability as soon as possible, and [its] development and growth,” the ministry wrote.

Prabowo has now returned to Jakarta.

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