China's Sphere of Influence : The Implementation of China's Belt and Road Initiative Project in Indonesia, 2015-2020

Absztrakt (kivonat)

As China's economy has grown massively, on the anarchic global stage, China is regarded as the assertive rising power. This is evidenced by the ambitious Chinese foreign policy entitled "Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)" launched in 2013 by Chinese President Xi Jinping. One of Southeast Asian states which is impacted by strong influence in implementing BRI from China is Indonesia. During President Xi Jinping’s state visits to Indonesia in 2013, President Xi has offered Indonesia - as an archipelago country, a maritime partnership and financial support for infrastructure projects under BRI. Both parties, China and Indonesia, have signed bilateral cooperation in the Belt and Road Forum International Summit in Beijing, in 2015, whereas, it contained mega projects of integrated economic, connectivity, industry, and tourism in some cities in Indonesia such as Jakarta Bandung, Makassar, through access roads and railways. Thus, this thesis will investigate the strategy of Chinese sphere of influence under the implementation of BRI using Immanuel Wallerstein’s framework of World Systems Theory which considers China as the core, developed state, and Indonesia as an upper-tier phery-phery. Based on that theory, this paper will explain the position or geographic location of the Chinese World system and also identify the relation between China and Indonesia. In terms of China, the thesis will investigate China's expansion and domination as well as its profit maximization. In terms of Indonesia, this thesis will examine the class struggle under the analysis of labor and stakeholders for the possibility of exploitation, problems in infrastructure projects and contracts, and extra loans. For deeper analysis, especially the implementation of BRI in Indonesia, this thesis uses some variables from policy diffusion theory, such as China’s diffusion mechanism, decision to adopt, implementation of practices, and evaluation. Ultimately, this thesis aims to interpret the international phenomenon through the BRI and its implementation in developing countries, develop the discussion of the principle of BRI which is not only related to global cooperation but also competition, as well as contribute to future studies about the impact of the possible global order.