<![CDATA[As Taiwan votes, will there be any shift in ties with Indonesia?]>
Since arriving in Taipei last year on a Taiwanese government scholarship, Indonesian journalist Teddy Tri Setio Berty, 25, has learned about 300 Mandarin words and can even ask for directions and order food.
The Jakarta-based reporter said he applied for the six-month language course at Taiwan's Soochow University to experience life abroad. "I want to feel more of what has been felt by those who live in an environment with different religious, racial or ethnic backgrounds," said Berty, a Muslim.
"I feel that Taiwan is the right and friendly place for me to have that [cultural understanding] experience," he said.
Indonesian journalist Teddy Tri Setio Berty, 25, is on a six-month Taiwanese government scholarship to study Mandarin in Taipei. Photo: Randy Mulyanto alt=Indonesian journalist Teddy Tri Setio Berty, 25, is on a six-month Taiwanese government scholarship to study Mandarin in Taipei. Photo: Randy Mulyanto www.scmp.com>non-degree Mandarin programmes, as part of a bid to boost ties between the self-ruled island and Southeast Asia's largest economy. In 2018, there were 11,812 Indonesian students taking diploma and non-diploma programmes in Taiwan, making the country the fourth-largest source of international students after China, Malaysia and Vietnam.
Since coming to power in 2016, Taiwan's current president Tsai Ing-wen has used the New Southbound Policy (NSP) to ramp up economic and trade collaboration, people-to-people exchanges, resource sharing and institutional links between Taiwan and 18 countries, including 10 Asean member states, in the hope of reducing its economic dependence on China.
But as Tsai and her pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) fight a presidential election on Saturday, analysts say the policy has not yielded much success in trade though it has achieved more people-to-people exchanges between Taiwan and Indonesia.
China remained Taiwan's largest trading partner in 2019, accounting for US$149 billion or 24 per cent of Taiwan's international trade, while Singapore, its largest Southeast Asian trading partner, made up 4 per cent in total trade at US$26 billion. Indonesia came in at US$7 billion, or 1.2 per cent of Taiwan's total trade last year.
Kristy Tsun-Tzu Hsu, executive director at the Taiwan Asean Studies Centre at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER), said NSP partner countries think trade agreements with Taiwan are politically sensitive because of their adherence to the One China policy. Beijing views Taiwan as part of its territory that must be reunited with the mainland.
Kristy Tsun-Tzu Hsu, executive director at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research's Taiwan Asean Studies Centre. Photo: Handout alt=Kristy Tsun-Tzu Hsu, executive director at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research's Taiwan Asean Studies Centre. Photo: Handout
"The same political concerns also affect Taiwan's proposals to update and upgrade bilateral investment agreements with certain Southeast Asian countries," Hsu said, noting that only two Southeast Asian countries " the Philippines in 2017 and Vietnam in 2019 " had signed since the NSP was launched.
Officials in Taipei have however praised ties between Taiwan and Southeast Asia's largest economy. In December, Joanne Ou, spokeswoman for Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the Indonesia-Taiwan relationship "has been growing" since it launched the NSP.
"We highly value the relationship we have with Indonesia, so Indonesia is very important for our New Southbound Policy ... We really appreciate the communication and the trust we have with Jakarta," Ou said. "Most importantly is that we share the common values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law,"
Hsu of the CIER said Indonesia "has carefully but positively responded to the NSP" since its launch.
Rangga Aditya Elias, head of the international relations department at Bina Nusantara University in Jakarta, said bilateral ties had grown significantly. But while Taipei had made "all kinds of efforts", Jakarta could not respond "proportionally and reciprocally" due to Indonesia's conformity to the One China policy.
"The Indonesian government can only play a passive role by becoming a platform provider for relations between both societies. On the side of a more strategic relationship between the two governments, there are still many things that cannot be fulfilled by the NSP," said Elias, who studies Taiwan-Indonesia relations.
The Indonesian foreign ministry was contacted for comment.
Rangga Aditya Elias, head of international relations department at Binus University in Jakarta and researcher on Taiwan-Indonesia relations. Photo: Handout alt=Rangga Aditya Elias, head of international relations department at Binus University in Jakarta and researcher on Taiwan-Indonesia relations. Photo: Handout
Paulus Rudolf Yuniarto, a researcher at the Research Centre for Area Studies of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, said migrant workers from Southeast Asia are still strategically used as a means to stem the flow of Chinese workers to Taiwan and to build better relations with Southeast Asian countries.
"While the KMT does not appear neither to be close enough to migrant workers nor provide support for migrant worker activities, the DPP is more open to the presence of migrant workers," Yuniarto said.
About 40 per cent of Taiwan's 718,816 foreign workers as of November last year were from Indonesia, taking on jobs such as carers for the elderly and factory workers.
Taiwan and Indonesia see "eye to eye" on a number of development areas that are not seen as sensitive, such as agriculture and education, said Jeremy Huai-Che Chiang, research associate at the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation, a policy think tank focusing on Asean and South Asia.
Taiwan has accepted Indonesians into its vocational education programmes while also establishing partnerships with several Indonesian universities and medical groups to promote its medical technologies and expertise.
Taiwan and Indonesia signed an action plan in 2018 for promoting the Modern Agriculture Demo Farm in Karawang in Indonesia's West Java province, where Taiwan introduced its irrigation and agricultural technology, machinery, materials and agricultural management model with the aim of duplicating the programme in other parts of Indonesia.
Hsu of the CIER said more Taiwanese businesses are paying attention to the halal economy and discussing various programmes with their Indonesian counterparts to explore opportunities in the Indonesian and global Muslim market.
As a part of the NSP's people-to-people exchange initiatives, Taipei has also encouraged more interactions between Indonesian and Taiwanese youths through the annual Yushan Forum regional dialogue.
NSP'S FUTURE
Elias of Binus University said if Tsai gets re-elected, there will be an effort to review the NSP "to be more specific by paying attention to the needs of each country in a more concrete area of cooperation".
Chiang of the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation said Tsai would continue ramping up efforts for the NSP should she win her second term in office. "Indonesia will continue to be a key partner country in this regard," he said.
Han Kuo-yu, mayor of Kaohsiung and presidential candidate for the Kuomintang (KMT) party, speaks during a campaign rally in Taipei. Photo: Bloomberg alt=Han Kuo-yu, mayor of Kaohsiung and presidential candidate for the Kuomintang (KMT) party, speaks during a campaign rally in Taipei. Photo: Bloomberg
On the other hand, if Tsai's challenger Han Kuo-yu of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party wins the election, Elias said it could pursue policies similar to the NSP, but less aggressively.
"They always improve relations with China while expanding Taiwan's role on the international stage," Elias said, adding that the KMT does not have a concrete and targeted strategy in maintaining relations with Southeast Asia.
Chiang of the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation said if Han wins, the NSP might undergo significant adjustments, ranging from a name change to a complete termination.
"Han and some in the KMT do see potential in Southeast Asia or South Asia, but their primary policy focus has always been stable economic cooperation with China," Chiang said.
"For Han, economic ties with China are key to resolving Taiwan's economic challenges," he added.
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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