What China did was just not what the Indonesians expected. The Chinese tore down the whole facilities, uprooting even the last screw, and paid more than a hundred million US$ fee to ship the parts back to China. The Chinese did not argue, threaten or just take it lying down. They are telling the world that Indonesia, like India, is now un-investable. It is not just a bad decision against the Chinese. It is sending a clear message to the rest of the world that Indonesia will soon be branded the graveyard of foreign investments, just like India.
What lead to this drastic move is taken from the same playbook of the Indians. The Chinese were lured into investing in Nickel Mining and Manufacturing facilities and was initially given all the sweet-sounding assurances and agreements and after believing in them, sunk in multi-billion US$ into those projects. When the Nickel Mining and Manufacturing started operation, the Indonesian Government changed the rules, reducing massive quotas and trying to force the Chinese partners to sell a majority stake to Indonesians. The Indonesians were betting on the fact that the Chinese have already invested billions and would not pull out knowing the loss would be substantial. China proved them wrong.
Having said about this issue, China must be prepared for consequences. We know about the anti-Chinese events in the past among the Indonesians and there is no reason to doubt it will not happen again.
As I said before, Vietnam and Indonesia are among those ASEAN States that cannot honestly be trusted with open arms. China should always treat them at arm's length and be very wary of their flimsy loyalties.
Anonymous
2 comments:
Good Morning All
Chinese and even their own Nationals in Indonesia must be aware of this Prabowo who is a General during Suharto's time that killed thousands of Chinese in their riots against socalled Communism.
This man is a drama king which even rushed back to China for the PRC's Miltary Parade even after some riots in Indonesia at that time.
Thoughts he wayang to have goodwill for China and had China in their good books to invest and help them.
Aiya! Certain type of beans with their ingrained mentalities and Cultures very hard to change their ways of lifes in their DNAs and Genes!
They are to be wary of!
Interact with caution when dealing with them.
China is going to treat Indonesia just like India, avoid at all costs. Perhaps China ought to have learnt a lesson from the May 1998 anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia. That was all about the Chinese Community in Indonesia having a major control over the economy of Indonesia or in other words sparked by 'jealousy'.
I must say that the Chinese Community in Indonesia must be very careful about a repeat, which Is, I think, cannot be avoided. It would be wise for them to repatriate whatever they hold in Indonesia now and not wait for another riot to do so.
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