China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Jakarta in mid-April to meet with Indonesian President Joko Widodo and his foreign minister, Retno Marsudi. Wang Yi also had a closed-door meeting with the current defence minister and president-elect, General (Retd) Prabowo Subianto, on 18 April. Prabowo noted that they discussed bilateral defence ties, primarily around education and training cooperation, joint exercises and defence-industrial collaboration. The defence minister also discussed these issues with his counterpart, Admiral Dong Jun, during his first overseas visit as president-elect in late March. He also met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang on this trip. Defence cooperation between Indonesia and China, however, has remained underdeveloped for almost two decades following the launch of their strategic partnership in 2005. Beijing’s encroachment in the South China Sea, Jakarta’s dependence on Western countries for military education, training, exercise and hardware, and a host of domestic political challenges and historical legacies in Indonesia continue to hinder efforts in that area. While there has been tremendous growth in the economic, political, diplomatic and people-to-people ties between the two countries, defence ties remain the weak link in the bilateral relationship. Minimal military ties Indonesian and Chinese defence policymakers have tried to elevate bilateral defence ties over the past two decades. Their efforts include developing regular dialogue platforms (including at the ministerial and senior-official levels), exploring defence- industrial collaboration, and instituting combined-military exercises and officer educational exchanges. When measured in terms of high-level visits and meetings, exercises and port calls, a 2017 assessment by the United States’ National Defense University puts Indonesia among China’s top ten military diplomatic partners from 2003–16. Beyond some of these scripted symbolisms, however, military-to-military ties remain significantly underdeveloped. From 1967–2013, only slightly more than 100 Indonesian military personnel were trained in China. By comparison, Malaysia reportedly sent about the same number of military students to various Chinese military schools between 2015 and 2020 alone. While the Indonesian military had sent more than three dozen of its personnel to various Chinese military schools and programmes in 2009, over the past decade it has often struggled to send a third of that number annually. This is despite China The underwhelming defence ties between Indonesia and China Indonesia and China held high-level meetings in March and April to discuss bilateral defence ties. Their cooperation, however, is likely to remain hamstrung by underdeveloped military education and training exchanges, infrequent combined exercises and non-existent defence-industrial collaboration. Evan A. Laksmana @EvanLaksmana ABOUT EVAN A. LAKSMANA ➤ ONLINE ANALYSIS 3rd May 2024 | We use cookies to provide you with a greater user experience. By using IISS, you accept our cookie policy. COOKIES ON IISS.ORG