Thesis Proposal

Austin Limawan 2101637264

Understanding China Health Diplomacy Manoeuvres in Indonesia in the

time of COVID-19 Pandemic

By :

Austin Limawan (2101637264)

LA68

International Relation Program

International Relation Study Program
School of Humanities
Bina Nusantara University
Jakarta
2021
Thesis Proposal
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Understanding China Health Diplomacy

Manoeuvres in Indonesia in the time of COVID-19
Pandemic

Abstract
The key argument of this paper is that the reason why China and Indonesia are so
keen in establishing cooperation in the midst of COVID-19 Pandemic is because both
countries have the same vision of eradicating COVID-19 while maintaining both countries
national interest and goals. The paper will be written from the perspective of Liberalism
theory of cooperation. In order to answer the question of why and what factors that push
China in helping Indonesia fighting the spread of COVID-19, this paper will use qualitative
descriptive method where the data will be taken from primary and secondary data which are
Journal articles, news articles, professional commentary articles, and press conference and
official statement from related ministries. This paper is hoping that it will contribute more in
the study field of China and Indonesia relations with the focusing area of cooperation in the
time of Pandemic situation.

Keywords: COVID-19, Indonesia-China Relations, Cooperation, Health Diplomacy, Soft

Power Diplomacy

Introduction

A Day before the end of year 2019, the world is soon to be shocked by the new enemy
that will become worldwide enemy in 2020 onwards. China has reported an unexplained type
of virus that cause similar illness of pneumonia but with unknown cause yet in Wuhan in the
province of Hubei (WHO, 2021), and later the virus now known as SARS-CoV-2 that causes
what now known as Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). In January 2020, the virus has
claimed at least 41 lives in China and begins its worldwide conquest where the virus infected
1.300 people in 11 different countries in Asia, America, and Europe (Christiastuti, 2020). As
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the severity and infectivity continuous to roars into 118.000 infections in 114 countries, on
11th March 2020 World Health Organization through its Director General Dr.Tedros
Adhanom speech, declared that COVID-19 is considered as a Pandemic and requires serious
international concern (Adhanom, 2020). At the time this proposal is written, the current data
of the spread of COVID-19 on 3rd February 2021, there are a total of almost 103 million
worldwide confirmed cases with the total of daily new infections of nearly 350.000 people
scattered around regions of Americas, Europe, and South-East Asia, which has the highest
number of confirmed cases in the region.

Despite being blamed as the causal of the appearance and spread of the Coronavirus
by the United States and some other countries, China has doubled its effort in fighting the
COVID-19 (Mitchell, 2020). In order to save China’s face in the international community,
president xi Jinping has pleaded that once the vaccine developed in China is done, China will
make the vaccine as ‘global public goods’ and will be accessible by all countries especially
developing countries (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, 2020).
Some developing countries China mentioned are located in the Southeast Asia region such
as Cambodia where China donated around 1 million doses of vaccines made by Sinovac as a
symbol that China and Cambodia are a long-standing side by side ‘friend’ (Iswara, 2021),
then Philippines where China pleaded around 500.000 doses of vaccines (Robles, 2021), and
then Indonesia where China pledges to fight along Indonesia in eradicating COVID-19 by
sending the first 3 million dose of sinovac vaccine and an equivalent of 15 million dose of
raw material to make vaccine (CNA international, 2021). In this paper, the writer will focus
on China aid and support in helping Indonesia fight the spread of Coronavirus.

Interestingly perhaps, looks like China has quite an obsession towards Indonesia
especially in this COVID-19 Pandemic time. President of the Communist Party of China, Xi
Jinping, even stated that Indonesia will be always in their priority watchlist in utilizing
cooperation in order to control and tackle the spread of COVID-19 in Indonesia, and pleaded
that China is fully ready to support Indonesia by sending medical supplies, vaccines,
technology transfer for vaccine making, and critical information regarding the virus
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(Pinandita, 2020). Surprisingly, The Ministry of Defense of China, Wei Fenghe, directly
contact Indonesian Ministry of Defense Prabowo Subianto lists of medical supplies that
Indonesia needed in order to counter the spread of COVID-19 in Indonesia (Sutrisno, 2020).
China aids for Indonesia does not end there. On march 2020 alone there is a equivalent of 40
tons worth of medical supplies flew from China consisting of test kits, swab kits, masks and
protective equipments (Afifa, 2020). On the early June 2020, Chinese ambassador for
Indonesia, Xiao Qian, stated that China will always provide close support for Indonesia in
fighting the spread of COVID-19 in Indonesia where in total, China has provided support in
equivalent of US$10 Million for Indonesia in fighting the spread of COVID-19. He stated
that this is the way that China reciprocates Indonesia valuable support to their government
where China suffers a tremendous constraint on the first stage of the outbreak in Wuhan at
the end of December 2019 (Embassy of The People’s Republic of China in the Republic of
Indonesia, 2020a).

In January 2020, Indonesia has received an equivalent of 3 million doses of vaccines

made by Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical company Sinovac, which later will be
prioritized for healthcare workers in Indonesia (Detikcom, 2020). President of Republic of
Indonesia, Joko Widodo, through press conference on 6 th December 2020 stated that
Indonesia expected another shipment of 15 million doses of inject-ready vaccines in
December 2020, and another 30 million doses of vaccines in form of raw vaccines that will
be processed further by Indonesia state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma
(Sekretariat Kabinet Republik Indonesia, 2020). Up until early February 2021, a new batch
of raw vaccine material shipment comes from Sinovac with the number of 11 million dose
of raw materials (Azizah, 2021). Overall, Indonesia has received an equivalent of around 29
million doses of vaccines in raw or inject-ready vaccines out of 125 million doses ordered
from Sinovac by Indonesia. Indonesia might have other choices rather than choosing vaccines
made by Sinovac such as Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna developed by United States,
Japan, and British. However, there are still no clear signal whether these vaccines will be
soon available for the international community since the companies stated it will first fulfill
the domestical needs before the vaccine available for other countries (Wicaksana, 2020).
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China aid is not limited only to vaccines and medical supplies, it even extended into
technology and information transfer. Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, stated that China
is prepared continue vaccine production cooperation and even ready to fully support
Indonesia in becoming the regional vaccine hub (The Star, 2021).

An Article written by Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat (2020) said that there are at least
two reasons why China should help Indonesia in the middle of COVID-19 pandemic outbreak,
they are economic reasons and the others are to fix or improve China image which are scraped
because of the pandemic outbreak. For economic reason, China understands that Indonesia
is the largest export and import market in Southeast Asia where the total valuation of imports
from China to Indonesia reaching a staggering US$34 Billion. Indonesia strategic location
also serves as the gateway for Beijing to access Southeast Asia market. China and Indonesia
also have a large infrastructure investment going on such as Morowali Industrial Park and
Jakarta-Bandung Fast Train Project. Also, it should be noted that China would like Indonesia
to be part of its Belt and Road (BRI) initiative since Indonesia serves as the key nation in
Southeast Asia for China’s maritime silk road which is the second component of the BRI
itself (Lai, 2019). This could undermine China in realizing its goals should China not help
Indonesia in tackling the spread of COVID-19 first. Second Reason is that China global
image is scraped and in Indonesia, it is no exception. For decades, the anti-China sentiment
in Indonesia is enriching and now with the case of COVID-19 that was first appeared in
China, it enriched the sentiment even deeper. By sending some medical supplies and experts,
and vaccines, this should help alleviate the negative sentiments that are currently imposed
towards China (Rakhmat, 2020).

China actions and quick respond in aiding Indonesia through the time of Pandemic
outbreak is should be applauded. However, this makes us question why does China try its
best in aiding Indonesia since the first outbreak on first quarter of 2020 up until now and
what factors that makes China immediately assist Indonesia in fighting the virus outbreak,
even giving Indonesia a priority access to the vaccine once it is developed. It is
understandable that China has deep interest in Indonesia, that is why it is not surprising that
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China would immediately extend its arms to aid Indonesia in the grim time of COVID-19
pandemic through the sending of medical and vaccine aid as its form of soft power diplomacy
in the country.

This paper aims to contribute to the study of China and Indonesia cooperation and
relation in the midst of pandemic situation, especially a pandemic as severe as the Corona
Virus Disease which has impacted not just China and Indonesia but the rest of the world.
This study hopes that it will open and complement further research in the field of China-
Indonesia cooperation and relation in the event of similar situation happened in the future, in
the scope of Southeast Asia point of view.

After this introduction section, this paper will proceed with analyzing some existing
literature and journals that currently are still quite limited at the time of writing this paper
which in the section will be also provided a theoretical framework, for this paper, I will try
to explain the China-Indonesia relation through the scope of International cooperation. Then
the paper will continue with the data and methodology section where I will explain what kind
of data and method of research this paper will primarily use. Section findings and discussion
will follow and then this paper will be ended with conclusion and some recommendation for
further research regarding the topic.

Literature Review and Conceptual Framework

An article written by Lye Liang Fook (2020) writes about China shifting narratives
in the first appearance of the outbreak (January to mid-February 2020) and the second stage
where China has successfully suppressed the number of daily infections in the country (mid-
February 2020 onwards), the article also addresses the aid extended by China towards
ASEAN member states. Lye Liang Fook (2020) said that in the first stage where the virus
began to spread which is around January to mid-February 2020, in nature, is still quite
defensive and always on guard regarding any skepticism that is pointed towards China since
the narrative that China relevant authorities are too slow in responding the coronavirus
situation is on the rise. The maneuver that China government done at that time is that they
aim to ensure information “stability and accuracy” instead of “making predictions and then
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panic”. At this stage also China admitted that the coronavirus was originated from Wuhan at
The Hunan Seafood Wholesale Market where the market is known to sold culled wildlife
which become the suspicion of the origin of the virus. China also denied that the virus comes
from biological facility of Wuhan Institute of Virology. Although China receives quite a
sentiment from many counterparts, China also receives supports and appraisal by countries
in Southeast Asia for its quick response in first hand handling the spread of virus, and China
took note of this. Overall, in this early stage of COVID-19 pandemic China is prone to be
more defensive, on guard, and full caution in handling the information and spread of virus in
the country.

On late February 2020, China begins to catch the momentum after significant drop of
the confirmed cases. China begins to express that their though and strict measures
implemented in China borders have successfully contain and suppress the coronavirus spread
outside China. China also begins to maintain close communication and information sharing
with World Health Organization (WHO) and impacted countries. China also begins to
strongly deny that the virus was originated from Wuhan, rather, it is first appeared in Wuhan.
In this stage also China tries to regain its popularity by extending its aid to impacted countries
such as Southeast Asia countries to reciprocate their support when China is in the midst of
fighting the spread of coronavirus (Fook, 2020). Aiding ASEAN member states gives two
important key ways in establishing Chinese narratives. First, it is to stress that the ASEAN
member states are fully supporting China’s anti-coronavirus effort. Second, is to highlight
China’s commitment to further cooperate with ASEAN member states and to underline that
ASEAN member states are supporting China in fighting the coronavirus (Fook, 2020).
Helping ASEAN member states would gain some benefit for China itself, in this case, the
most important is gaining the support from ASEAN member states while also repairing its
global image as been accused of being the cause of the spread of the COVID-19.

An article written by Hardi Alunza SD et.al. (2017) stated that Indonesia foreign
policy on the maritime sector under Joko Widodo presidency is quite ambitious where Joko
Widodo is trying to make Indonesia as global maritime axis with Global Maritime Fulcrum
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(GMF) policy. On the other hand, China has a grand plan for the establishment of Belt and
Road Initiative (BRI) which led into Maritime Silk Road (MSR). Joko Widodo wish to
strengthen Indonesia domestic matters and show its identity as an archipelagic country with
great and strong maritime culture and territory. China on the other hand would like to realize
its BRI ambition for its Maritime Silk Road which makes opening cooperation with Indonesia
is a very advantageous choice since two factors makes the cooperation justifiable for China.
First, Indonesia geostrategic location is an ideal gateway for the establishment of China’s
Maritime Silk Road routes, which means an abundant economic opportunity for China in
Southeast Asia region and member states of ASEAN. Second, other than being the most
geostrategic location in Southeast Asia Indonesia also has significant influence in the region,
this means that establishing cooperation with Indonesia is important for utilizing China
interest (Sd et al., 2017). However, despite the sweet and delightful prospects of GMF and
MSR for Indonesia and China this will render meaningless in the current pandemic situation
where Indonesia economy is in the violent storm of uncertainty and recession. In 2020,
Indonesia economy growth has declined under zero in which the number reaches minus
2.07%, meaning that Indonesia economy has yet to recover (Kompascom, 2021). In order for
China to continue its ambition in Indonesia, China has to at least help Indonesia in tackling
the outbreak of COVID-19.

Next, the article written by Ridha Amalia (2018) stated that China needs to establish
cooperation with Indonesia since geographically, Indonesia holds one of the most important
straits and waterways which are crucial for the maritime route for international trade. These
waterways are Malacca, Sunda, and Lombok straits, in order for China to fulfill its domestic
energy demands 80% of China oil imports have to pass through these waterways to reach
China. Aside from Indonesia rich natural commodities which are also important for China
manufactures, Indonesia also serves as critical role in China ambition for economic
integration with Southeast Asia nations where these nations count as the fourth largest China
trading partner (Amalia, 2019). Looking at the cooperation that has been established for years,
China aid and support in helping Indonesia in the desperate time of COVID-19 outbreak
might be able to serve as a medium of preserving both country relations in the midst of
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pandemic situation As Chinese ambassador for Indonesia, Xiao Qian said, that the friendly
relations and the deepening cooperation between China and Indonesia have brought benefits
for both countries economic growth and prosperity while also contributing to regional and
global stability and prosperity (Embassy of The People’s Republic of China in the Republic
of Indonesia, 2020b).

In this paper, the writer will use Neoliberalism theory of cooperation. Richard W.
Mansbach and Kristen L. Rafferty (2008) stated that actors in neoliberalism is unitary and
rational enough in judging which one is more beneficial or costly for them in establishing a
cooperation. Neoliberalist does accept the idea of anarchy, but the anarchic international
world could be suppressed through cooperation since neoliberalist emphasize that in order to
survive in the anarchic world, they have to be interdependent with each other where
interdependence later creates cooperation (Mansbach & Taylor, 2017). In defining
cooperation, Helen Milner (1992) defines cooperation as where actors adjust their behavior
to the actual or anticipated preferences of others through the process of policy coordination.
In cooperation she mentioned there are two elements. First, each actor is assumed to behave
in driving towards same goal, even though the goal is not the same, the actors should be
rational enough in having the cooperation by judging their cost and benefit. Second, the
cooperation has to provide the actors with gains and benefits even though what defined as
gains and benefits could be different (Milner, 1992). Robert Keohane on the other hand
argues that the conditions in which actors could establish cooperation is when the actors have
the basis of complementary interest among the actors in which could also mean that having
a common interest could also spark international cooperation (Herbert, 2012).

The idea of China and Indonesia cooperation in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic
somehow explains that both countries do have different interest but same goal in mind which
is eradicating the spread of coronavirus in each country. However, their interest might be
different, China aid in Indonesia could be seen in the humanitarian aspect where China aim
to help Indonesian to be free of the COVID-19 infection, while in the deeper interest China
might want to save Indonesia since losing Indonesia trust as its cooperation partner would be
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too expensive for China in realizing their ambitious agendas. Since Indonesia is mostly on
the receiving end of China’s aid, it does not necessarily mean that Indonesia losing its
bargaining power with China. China needs Indonesia in order to somehow realize its agenda
in establishing Maritime Silk Road (MSR) and other critical agenda to fulfill their interest.
While on the other hand, Indonesia also needs China in order to utilize its economy. In the
midst of COVID-19 Pandemic, both countries share the same vision in eradicating it even
though both understand well that they are pursuing different interest.

Data, Methods, and Case Studies

This paper will be written through qualitative descriptive method where the writer
will mostly write on elaborating the China-Indonesia relation in the midst of COVID-19
Pandemic. In answering the research question why china is so keen in doing its best to aid
Indonesia and the factors that made China act in this way, the writer will use both primary
and secondary data from journal articles, news articles, professional commentary articles,
press conferences, official statements from China and Indonesia ministries or higher and
possibly statistics to enrich certain data. The writer understands that the theory and concept
of neoliberalism cooperation could be in form of institution cooperation. However, in this
paper, the writer will limit the scope of research and study only to bilateral relation between
Indonesia and China.

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Media tracking mengenai health diplomacy china – Indonesia