China and Indonesia

China's rapid economic growth and ascendancy may challenge Indonesia's long standing aspiration to become the first among equals in Southeast Asia.

That is the view of Lim Tin Seng in an article titled Seeking Closer Cooperation with Post-Suharto Indonesia. (Interpreting China's Development, Ed. Wang Gungwu and John Wong, World Scientific Publishing, 2007).

As the country with the largest Muslim population in the world and a key actor in the non-aligned movement, Indonesia expects itself to play a regional as well as international leadership role.

After it was elected as a non-permanent member in the United Nations Security Council, Indonesia has tried to play a role in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the North Korean nuclear crisis. It has also dispatched a thousand troops to the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations in Lebanon.

Even so, Lim noted that the policy of friendship and cooperation between Beijing and Jakarta will continue, as Beijing "continues to step up its diplomacy to engage Indonesia and the region for stability and prosperity."