The political economy of Chinese and Japanese infrastructure regime : a case study of Indonesia (preliminary analysis) (original) (raw)
Related papers
Third World Quarterly, 2019
This paper’s main aim is to contribute to the debate on the impact of China’s rise on the established norms and practices in the field of international development. To do so, it zooms in on a single infrastructure project, the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail line, which involved intense competition between China and Japan. Specifically, it examines how competition between China, a non-Western emerging power, and Japan, an OECD member, led to a recalibration of both China and Japan’s approaches to infrastructure financing in the region. The findings suggest that rather than straight convergence or competition between diverging models, there is an ongoing process of two-way adjustment between China, and representatives of the dominant global norms and practices. We also argue that to understand the implications of China’s participation in the field of international development, and its impact on the ‘rules of the game’ of global governance, researchers should avoid positioning inquiries within the premises of China’s one-directional impact on the development assistance regime. Rather, it is necessary to take into account a complex set of relationships including China, host countries and other ‘socialised’ actors, and the process of negotiation between them.
2018
This paper compares Japanese and Chinese infrastructure development strategies in post-Soviet Central Asia (CA) by analyzing the similarities and differences in the approaches of the two Asian economic powers. This paper develops several arguments with respect to the Japanese and Chinese approaches to infrastructure development in CA. This paper argues most of the Chinese projects involve the creation of energy and transportation infrastructure (construction), while Japan’s main areas of focus are the maintenance, modernization, and rehabilitation of current infrastructure. In addition, this paper suggests that China positions itself as CA’s leading economic partner, while Japan is one of CA’s leading assistance providers. These two roles have different implications. Furthermore, the current infrastructure engagements of Japan (from assistance to partnership) and China (from exploitation to contribution to the region) in CA demonstrate both countries’ attempts to adjust and search for new opportunities.
When the state goes transnational: The political economy of China's engagement with Indonesia
Competition and Change, 2022
Extending the growing literature within international political economy, this article puts forth the notion of transnational state capitalism, taking into account the anaemic growth gripping the global economy since the 2008 economic crisis and China's massive efforts to export infrastructure following the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013. Focussing on the agencies, practices and outcomes of the Jakarta-Bandung High Speed Rail, one of the largest infrastructure undertakings in Southeast Asia since the BRI's inception, this article explores how and to what extent state capitalism has shaped the political economy of a rising China in Indonesia. We identify three characteristics of an emerging transnational state capitalism in Southeast Asia: state-centric in its overall direction and operation; simultaneous pursuit of economic-cum-geopolitical interests; and an inability to stem structural weaknesses associated with statist economic directives (which have been further complicated by its intertwining with host state dynamics). Our central argument is that although this project was initially conceived as a business-to-business arrangement, it has increased the appeal of state intervention in a transnational context. The driving forces include Indonesia's political economy and the Chinese state-owned enterprises' dual agenda of seeking profits and advancing geopolitical goals. We also argue that the project's statist nature has brought about some side-effects such as inefficient resource allocation and incumbency bias, thus raising concerns about the vulnerability of state capitalist models. Our findings highlight the importance of conceptualizing the transnational state against the backdrop of a globalizing China, going beyond parochial understandings of this increasingly salient phenomenon.
Contentious Embeddedness: Chinese State Capital and the Belt and Road Initiative in Indonesia
Made in China: The work of Arts, 2020
This article employs Polanyi’s concept of ‘embeddedness’ to examine post-BRI Chinese investments in Indonesia. It argues that key elements of this ‘embeddedness’ can become active tools for policymakers to shape their strategy vis-à-vis Chinese investments. Key elements of this contentious embeddedness of Chinese investments in Indonesia include the rooted anti-China sentiment, populist and protectionist tendencies, and the well-established presence of Japanese capital, which competes with Chinese capital to maintain its influence in the country. The article uses the example of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Rail to show how politically driven capital from China has been shaped by this embeddedness, and how in turn this process is changing Indonesia. These compromises, however, may not always be economically beneficial to China.
China’s Infrastructural Expansion in Southeast Asia
Proceedings of Topical Issues in International Political Geography, 2020
Muratshina K. and Andal A.G. (2021) China’s Infrastructural Expansion in Southeast Asia. In: Bolgov R., Atnashev V., Gladkiy Y., Leete A., Tsyb A., Pogodin S. (eds) Proceedings of Topical Issues in International Political Geography. Springer Geography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58263-0\_26 This paper is aimed at the analysis of contemporary China’s policy of realisation of large-scale infrastructure projects in the region of Southeast Asia. In the recent years, the People’s Republic of China has intensified the promotion of such projects, insisting on the faster development of “One Belt, One Road” initiative. As a neighbouring region for China, Southeast Asia is subject to this policy, and many states, either driven by the desire of some profit, or not used to the format of this cooperation and its probable consequences, or unable to dismiss the initiatives of a powerful neighbour, have already agreed to allow the wider participation of the PRC in the construction of highways, railroads and other infrastructure in their territories. The construction is carried out on the basis of tied loans, with bids and offers going primarily to Chinese contractors, and with the use of Chinese workforce. As a result, typically after the completion of such projects, one side – the PRC – receives considerable margins and strengthens its impact in the region or in the economy of a partner state, while the other one – the recipient – acquires infrastructure, but for the price of financial dependence, additional expenses (any loan has to be paid back with the interest rate) and, in many cases, negative environmental impact and social tensions. This paper displays these common features of China-led infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia and, in addition, analyses the reaction of the regional political elites and societies to this situation. Moreover, it is discussed, how China’s infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia become an example of the interplay between soft and hard power, wherein soft power can serve as a leverage to hard power.
International Journal of Political Studies, 2019
Existing studies on China's infrastructure investment projects have largely focused on its geopolitical and geoeconomic implications by assuming that China will easily obtain support and cooperation from developing countries. However, asymmetric power capabilities of China do not always imply that it would be able to achieve all desired outcomes at any time. Since China's infrastructure diplomacy is essentially based on gaining support from developing countries, possibility of strategic misalignment with them and political risks emanated from intensified strategic competition with other great powers create an opportunity for negotiations between China and each host country in itself. Using an analytical framework from the bargaining theory in international relations, this article argues that Southeast Asian countries are able to increase their bargaining leverage visa -vis China. The success of China's infrastructure diplomacy depends on the combination of three factors, such as strategic location, outside option and domestic constraints, affecting political bargaining processes between China and Southeast Asian countries. In this context, the future prospect of regional cooperation is likely to be shaped by the interactions between different development and connectivity plans in Southeast Asia. The increasing China-Japan competition provides economic opportunities but at the same time implies high security risks for individual ASEAN countries.
Australian Journal of International Affairs, 2018
Scholarly narratives concerning China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) tend to contextualise this project within China’s rivalry with the United States and Japan. Such interpretations often reduce and misconstrue Japan’s initiatives in Asian infrastructure finance as mere reactivity to China’s advances. This paper will showcase Japan’s own foreign and financial policies regarding infrastructure in Asia and the New Silk Road regions since the end of the Cold War. I argue that Japan’s presence in that field is underappreciated and under-researched, as Japan’s infrastructural footprint in the New Silk Road significantly pre-dates the BRI. Furthermore, I stress the fact that Japan’s foreign policy in Asian infrastructure finance featured important cooperative postures toward China, especially within multilateral development banks. The paper makes a contribution to emerging scholarship on the BRI—often reliant on strategic communications and projections— by highlighting Japan’s role in regional infrastructure to show how our understanding of international relations and international political economy in Asia can be better informed by economic history and area studies.
2019
This research is the answer to how strategic partnerships affect infrastructure development. The researcher focuses on the comprehensive strategic partnership between Indonesia-China toward Indonesia's infrastructure development under Joko Widodo's era. Furthermore, the author will explain the benefits of the collaboration for China as Indonesia's partner country. In addition, the researcher will elaborate by using variables which are delivered in bilateral concepts, and also will use qualitative methods, in which data collections are from the study of literature - books, journals, documents that are taken from websites and trusted websites to strengthen researcher's argument. The results of this study indicate that the impacts of comprehensive strategic partnership on Indonesia's infrastructure development are realizing Indonesia's national connectivity agenda which was listed in the MP3EI document with China's helping through investment. in addition, by...