Agnes Monica_2540122445

Fundamental of Academic Writing in International Relations

Reading Comprehension and Critical Reading

a. What is the topic or issue covered in the article?

The relations between Indonesia and China in four dimensions of ambivalence.

b. What is the background of the study?

Indonesia signed a Strategic Partnership with China in 2005 which makes others believed that it
was finally moving away from its historically strong ties with the United States and straight into
Beijing arms.

c. What is the aim the author wishes to achieve?

To explain the ambivalence in Indonesia-China relations by assessing its four main dimensions:
domestic politics, economics, strategic security, and foreign policy.

d. What is/are the author's main argument(s)?

The author argues that, when located within the broader evolution of Indonesia-China relations,
Jakarta’s policy towards China is characterized by persistent ambivalence.

e. What is/are the main finding(s)?

The preceding analysis assessed four dimensions of ambivalence in Indonesia-China relations
has shown that deep-rooted sentiments toward and perceptions of China pervade both the elite
and the wider public in Indonesia.

f. What are the evidences used to support the main findings?

Whether one looks at domestic politics, economics, strategic security, or foreign policy, all these
dimensions suggest that Indonesia’s responses to a rising China cannot be neatly categorized as
strategies of balancing, bandwagoning, or hedging. The dynamics of Indonesia-China relations
at the official level essentially reflect a variation of a more pervasive ambivalence toward China
in Indonesian society.