The inauguration of Prabowo Subianto as Indonesia’s eighth president on Oct. 20 marks the official beginning of his “good neighbor” foreign policy. He aims to maintain a delicate balance among major powers, while fostering collaboration to achieve peace and stability, and bolster economic cooperation with countries in the Indo-Pacific region. How does Taiwan fit into Prabowo’s foreign policy agenda?
Taiwan is significant for Indonesia due to its role in hosting a substantial number of Indonesian migrant workers. Under his new Cabinet, “merah putih” (“red and white”), Prabowo has established a ministry dedicated to protecting migrant workers. He upgraded the status of the Indonesian Migrant Worker Protection Agency to ministerial level, separated from the Indonesian Ministry of Manpower.
Under the new ministry, Indonesia is expected to enhance migrant worker protection diplomacy with migrant-receiving countries, especially Taiwan.
Despite being the second-most favored destination for Indonesian migrant workers, Taiwan has remained a blind spot in Jakarta’s protection diplomacy agenda. The absence of official diplomatic relations prevents high-level bilateral labor talks between the two presidents, which are essential for demonstrating the moral commitment of the state to migrant workers.
For example, former Indonesian president Joko Widodo last year met with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to discuss migrant worker issues. Such official dialogue between Indonesia and Taiwan is unlikely due to Jakarta’s “one China” policy.
Prabowo’s interest in enhancing the protection of migrant workers in Taiwan is closely tied to the fact that these workers constituted the largest overseas voting bloc for him during the February presidential election, accounting for 80 percent. That makes it paramount for him to return the political favor by enhancing the protection of migrant workers. Improving the security of migrant workers in Taiwan is pertinent to Indonesia, especially with the increasing geopolitical tensions across the Taiwan Strait that risk the lives of the workers should China attack Taiwan.
The failure to protect migrant workers in Taiwan would undermine Prabowo’s legitimacy. These workers play a crucial role as primary breadwinners for their families in Indonesia and vital contributors to the national economy through foreign remittances. As such, Indonesia and Taiwan are expected to establish a “Track II dialogue” to address the stability across the Taiwan Strait and maintain the “status quo.”
Other areas which Taiwan can potentially benefit from Indonesia’s new administration are trade and the digital economy. The appointment of Budi Santoso, the former head of the Indonesian Economic and Trade Office to Taipei, as minister of trade signals the significance of Taiwan as a key trading partner. During his tenure, Santoso promoted Indonesia’s export commodities and explored business and trading opportunities between Indonesia and Taiwan, especially in the agriculture sector, in which Taiwan is leading.
Furthermore, Santoso also praised Taiwan’s advanced technology, which can help Indonesia develop its digital economy. His familiarity and experience with Taiwan are expected to further enhance bilateral trade and economic cooperation, particularly in advancing the stalled proposal of a bilateral economic cooperation arrangement between the countries.
A recent public and elite perception survey issued by Indikator Politik Indonesia, an Indonesia-based research institute, showed that Indonesia should enhance cooperation in culture, tourism and creative industries with Taiwan. In the early 2000s, Taiwanese pop culture dominated Indonesian television thanks to the popularity of the Taiwanese television drama Meteor Garden (流星花園). The iconic bubble milk tea has also leveraged Taiwan’s soft power diplomacy.
As Taiwan prepares to launch the “New Southbound Policy+” under President William Lai (賴清德), it is essential to consider the digital economy and creative industries as crucial components of Taiwan’s economic and soft power diplomacy with Indonesia. The initiative should come together with the proposal to expand Taiwan’s semiconductor network in Southeast Asia. Indonesia has shown interest in attracting semiconductor investment, particularly given the country’s abundant tin and nickel production, which can shore up the global supply chain of chip industries.
The formation of Indonesia’s National Economic Council also signifies Prabowo’s foreign policy priority in achieving economic resilience, which Taiwan can contribute to through economic and labor diplomacy.
Ratih Kabinawa is an adjunct research fellow at the University of Western Australia and a Ministry of Foreign Affairs visiting research fellow.
After nine days of holidays for the Lunar New Year, government agencies and companies are to reopen for operations today, including the Legislative Yuan. Many civic groups are expected to submit their recall petitions this week, aimed at removing many Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers from their seats. Since December last year, the KMT and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) passed three controversial bills to paralyze the Constitutional Court, alter budgetary allocations and make recalling elected officials more difficult by raising the threshold. The amendments aroused public concern and discontent, sparking calls to recall KMT legislators. After KMT and TPP legislators again
Taiwan faces complex challenges like other Asia-Pacific nations, including demographic decline, income inequality and climate change. In fact, its challenges might be even more pressing. The nation struggles with rising income inequality, declining birthrates and soaring housing costs while simultaneously navigating intensifying global competition among major powers. To remain competitive in the global talent market, Taiwan has been working to create a more welcoming environment and legal framework for foreign professionals. One of the most significant steps in this direction was the enactment of the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) in 2018. Subsequent amendments in
US President Donald Trump on Saturday signed orders to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China effective from today. Trump decided to slap 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada as well as 10 percent on those coming from China, but would only impose a 10 percent tariff on Canadian energy products, including oil and electricity. Canada and Mexico on Sunday quickly responded with retaliatory tariffs against the US, while countermeasures from China are expected soon. Nevertheless, Trump announced yesterday to delay tariffs on Mexico and Canada for a month and said he would hold further talks with
Taiwan’s undersea cables connecting it to the world were allegedly severed several times by a Chinese ship registered under a flag of convenience. As the vessel sailed, it used several different automatic identification systems (AIS) to create fake routes. That type of “shadow fleet” and “gray zone” tactics could create a security crisis in Taiwan and warrants response measures. The concept of a shadow fleet originates from the research of Elisabeth Braw, senior fellow at the Washington-based Atlantic Council. The phenomenon was initiated by authoritarian countries such as Iran, North Korea and Russia, which have been hit by international economic
RSS