Indonesia has become the latest election battleground for Beijing’s soaring economic clout, as the opposition warns pro-China policies are saddling the mineral-rich archipelago with bad debt as it is sold off piecemeal to foreign interests.Business links with top trade partner China have been thrust into the spotlight by ex-general Prabowo Subianto who is challenging Indonesian leader Joko Widodo for the presidency of South-East Asia’s largest economy on Wednesday.
“All initiatives should be reviewed,” Irawan Ronodipuro, foreign affairs director for Prabowo’s campaign, said.Pushing back at China’s globe-spanning project has proved successful elsewhere in Asia, including in Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Malaysia, as the trademark infrastructure push to link Asia, Europe and Africa is used to whip up fears about eroding sovereignty.
Since taking office in 2014, Joko has pushed Chinese investment to fulfil his own multi-billion-dollar drive to build much-needed roads, airports and other infrastructure across the sprawling archipelago of more than 17,000 islands.