Economic and Socio-Cultural Relations betweenIndonesia and Taiwan: An Indonesian Perspective,1990-2012
Luh Nyoman Ratih Wagiswari Kabinawa Bina Nusantara University
AbstractThis paper analyzes the puzzle why did Indonesia maintain durable economic and socio-cultural relations with Taiwan? In order to answer that question, this paper argues that dueto the Indonesian people as promoter of ideas lead interactions with Taiwan, Indonesia is ableto maintain its durable economic and socio-cultural relations with Taiwan despite under theabsence of diplomatic relations. People-to-people interaction builds three kinds of interactionsbetween Indonesia and Taiwan on the issue of economic and socio-cultural: unofficialinteraction, semi-official interaction, and official interaction. This paper employs Indonesianperspective approach that stressed on the pattern of relations that stem from people-to-peopleinteractions between Indonesia and Taiwan. Thus, the paper aims to fill the gap in theliterature on Taiwan and Indonesia relations that mostly focus on analysis of economicdiplomacy, interest (Leifer 2001; Ku 1995, Leong 1995, Lee 1990, Klintworth 1995, Rich2009), shifting on international order (Ku;1998), and the PRC’s factor on Indonesia andTaiwan relations (Ku 2002; Irawan 2006).
Keywords: Indonesian businessmen, Indonesian migrant workers, Indonesianstudents, economic and socio-cultural relations, people-to-people interactions
Introduction
Indonesia and Taiwan are two entitiesthat do not have official diplomatic relationsbut maintain durable economic and socio-culture relations. Though Indonesia adheresOne China Policy principle, this countrycontinues to nurture its relations withTaiwan in economic and socio-culturalaspects.
The most important event in Indonesia’srelations with Taiwan occurred in 1989when Taipei was allowed to rename itsChamber of Commerce in Jakarta fromChinese Chamber of Commerce into Taipei
Economic and Trade Office which gavepolitically meaningful status to Taiwan.Indonesia-Taiwan’s harmonious relationsdid not stop there; in 1994 Taiwan launcheda program called “Southward Policy” whichaims to increase its investment and politicalrelations with countries in Southeast Asiaincluding Indonesia. Economic ties betweenIndonesia and Taiwan found withininvestment and trade activities while socio-cultural ties lied within the existence ofIndonesian migrant workers andIndonesian students in Taiwan.
Statistics on economic and socio-culturalrelations between Indonesia and Taiwan
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showed improvement after the year of1990s. In terms of economic investment,Taiwan was the eighth-largest foreign directinvestor for Indonesia in 2010 (Center forPolitical Studies (P2P) LIPI 2011, p.6).
In terms of trading activity, Indonesiawas Taiwan’s eleventh-trading partner in2010, being the thirteenth-largest exportmarket and eleventh-largest supplier orimports (Center for Political Studies (P2P)LIPI 2011, p.6). On the context of socio-cultural relations, Indonesian migrantworker is the first biggest population offoreign workers in Taiwan. In addition,Indonesian student is the third largestpopulation of foreign students fromSoutheast Asia after Malaysia and Vietnam.
The table clearly shows that each yearstatistics on economic and socio-culturalrelations experience some improvements.However, durable economic and socio-culture relations between Indonesia andTaiwan do not necessarily give positiveimpact toward their political-diplomaticrelations. Indonesia since its independencein 1945 never recognized Taiwan as anindependent state. Indonesia recognized thePeople’s Republic of China (hereafter PRC)as the sole legitimate representative ofChinese government in 1950. Even afterIndonesia suspended its diplomatic
relations with PRC in 1967, Indonesia hasnever recognized Taiwan.
Furthermore, Indonesia is one of thecountries in Southeast Asia that stronglysupported the principle of one-China Policyand signed strategic partnership relationswith PRC in 2005. Thus, politicallyspeaking, Indonesia does not have anyincentive to improve its relations withTaiwan. Economically speaking, however,Indonesia and Taiwan are able to maintainstrong economic and socio-culturalrelations. Hence, this paper will explain theunderlying reason that caused Indonesiaand Taiwan are able to develop economicand socio-cultural interactions under theabsence of diplomatic relations.
Based on state-centric approach, a statethat does not have political diplomaticrelations with another state would bedifficult to engage in formal governmentalrelations among each other. Nevertheless onthe case of Indonesia and Taiwan, bothnations are able to develop their economicand socio-culture relations even thoughofficial diplomatic ties are missing. Thus,this paper tries to answer the question:“Under the adherence of one-China policyprinciple and the absence of diplomaticrelations with Taiwan, why did Indonesia
Table 1. Statistics on Economic and Socio-Cultural Relations between Indonesia andTaiwan 2010-2012
Source: compilation from <http://www.moeaic.gov.tw/>; <http://web02.mof.gov.tw/> and Bureau of Foreign Trade: TradeStatistics, Republic of China (Taiwan), http://cus93.trade.gov.tw
142 Indonesia-Taiwan Relations: Indonesian Perspective
maintain durable economic and socio-cultural relations with Taiwan?”
This paper argues that due to theIndonesian people as promoter of ideas leadinteractions with Taiwan, Indonesia is ableto maintain its durable economic and socio-cultural relations with Taiwan despiteunder the absence of diplomatic relations.People-to-people interaction builds threekinds of interactions between Indonesia andTaiwan on the issue of economic and socio-cultural: unofficial interaction, semi-officialinteraction, and official interaction.
The paper employs Indonesianperspective approach to examine Indonesia-Taiwan relations. In addition, this paperwill also examine case studies of economicand socio-culture issues. Economic issuesinvolve aspect of investment, and tradewhile socio-culture issues include aspect ofmigrant workers and Indonesian students.
This paper consists of four sections. Firstis the introduction. Second section coverstheoretical framework to set up the mainindicators. Third section presents thediscussion of main analysis. The last sectionis conclusion.
Theoretical Framework
The main analytical tool on this paper ispeople as promoters of new ideas (Snyder2004, p.59) lead state’s interaction withother states. The importance of peoplewithin the study of international relationhas been acknowledged to promote state’srelations with others. People-to-peopleinteraction goes beyond the boundaries andsovereignty of the state. This part willexamine the role of the people within stateto state relations. Discussion will begin withconceptual approach from realist intoconstructivist’s core ideas to explain theirviews on state to state relations. Later on,the conceptual approach will be narrowdown into the proposed framework.
Realism approach treats state as themain unit analysis on international relationsstudies (Mingst 1996, p.70-78 and Snyder2004, p. 59). State is the single and the mainactor within the analysis of internationalrelations phenomena. The idea of state isbuilt from de facto and de jure idea. Defacto consist of citizen, boundary andgovernment, while de jure relates to theidea of sovereignty and recognition fromother states1. The idea of sovereignty andrecognition relies on the practice ofacknowledgement of diplomatic relationsamong states. State practice government-to-government contacts under the leverage ofdiplomatic relations. Thus, from realistpoint of view, interaction in theinternational order is filled by state to stateinteractions under the leverage of officialdiplomatic relations.
Figure 1Official State to State Relations
The above picture describes that state’ Ahas official diplomatic relations with state B,thus both interact each other without anyhesitation. Both states practice government-to-government relations within variouskinds of issues. Under official diplomaticrelations, state is easier to conductinteractions with others. Nevertheless, notevery state has official diplomatic relationswith other states. Government-to-government relations are unlikely occurredamong state that lack of diplomaticrelations. Therefore, state’s interactions withothers are not conducted under the officialgovernment level but through the existence
1 The idea of de facto and de jure is the basic term to defineone entity as a state. Various discussion about the nature ofthe state can refer to Stephen D. Krasner, “AbidingSovereignty”, International Political Science Review, Jul., 2001,Vol. 22, No.3, pp. 231-233
Journal of ASEAN Studies 143
of third parties which are people2. Peoplefrom one state interact with other statethrough their movement that goes beyondthe state’s boundaries and sovereignty.Together with the development ofglobalization, people could easily movefrom one state to another state.
People-to-people interactions under theabsence of diplomatic relations among twostates often called as informal relations. Thisterm appear because the relations amongstates not conducted by the government butby the people. The picture below showshow interaction between states occurredthrough their people’s interaction.
Figure 2Non-Official State to State Approach
The above picture explains that state Adoes not have diplomatic relations withstate B, thus both will be difficult to exerciseofficial governmental exchanges. However,both countries still able to manage theirrelations due to the interactions that led bythe people. People build the network andprovide information for the states, thus,both states can manage their relationswithin various issues. On this case, stateexercises its basic function as security andeconomic provider for the people.
To exemplify, people from state’ Awould like to do business in state B.Therefore, the people should move fromstate A into state B to run his/her business.In order to be able to enter state B, peoplefrom state A has to prepare some official
2 Third parties within state-to-state relations not only on thecontext of people but also on the context of other non-stateactors such Multinational corporations, InternationalOrganizations or Non-governmental organizations. Due tothe limitation of this thesis, however, this thesis only focusesto the role of people as third parties within Taiwan andIndonesia relations.
documents primarily resident or workingvisa. The issuance of visa is the matter ofgovernmental issues, thus the governmentfrom state A has to cooperate with thegovernment in state B to issue visa for thepeople from state’ A that would like to dobusiness in state B. Hence, bothgovernments are forced to work each otherin order to fulfill the needs of issuing visafor the people.
From the above case, it explains twothings. First, state as a security provider hasto protect their people whose goingoverseas, without consideration whetherthe state has diplomatic relations or notwith the other state. Thus the state has towork with other state in order to issue entrypermit as a legal protection for their citizenwhen going overseas. Second, state aseconomic provider allows people from itsstate to do business overseas in order tofulfill economic interest of the people. Thosetwo activities as security and economicprovider cannot be conducted, unless thestate also builds connection with designatedstate that has no diplomatic relations
The above mentioned explanationsshow how people from different stateinteracts each other and influenced state’srelations. However, the explanation has notaddressed the interest of the people thatwould like to enter the country that do nothave official diplomatic relations with theirstate. The explanation has not answered theunderlying reasons that endorse peoplefrom state's A willing to interact or to movewith state B. Constructivist approach thatfocuses on the concept of ideas and valueswill be employed in order to explain theunderlying reasons of people’s migration.As mentioned before, realist approach treatsstate as the key actors on the study ofinternational relations.
On the opposite side, constructivistbuilds their arguments based on theanalysis of individual or promoters of newideas (read: people) as the key actors in
144 Indonesia-Taiwan Relations: Indonesian Perspective
international relations (Snyder 2004, p.59and Walt 1998, p.38).
Constructivist argues that interest isformed through the process of reciprocalinteraction which constitute by thedistribution of ideas. Interest is not given byorder but rather than constructed throughreciprocal interactions. It is said thatinterests being formed in the process ofinteraction rather than being formed priorto interaction (Baylis and Smith 1997, p.185).
Constructivist treats ideas and values astheir main instruments to analyze theconstruction of interest (Snyder 2004, p.59).People act under the command of its ideasin which they will share it with others thatcreated a formation of ideas. “Shared ideasmaking up norms, institutions, threat-system, and so on – that constitute themeaning of the distribution of power, eitherby constituting state’s perceptions of thatdistribution or by constituting theiridentities and interests” (Wendt 1999,p.104). Clear explanation about distributionof ideas as follows (Wendt 1999, p.104).
Figure 3Constructivist Approach on State to
State Relations
Above diagram explains the formationof interest that closely associated withmaterial things such economic and/or
security interest. Those interests are actuallyshape through distribution of ideas thatpromote by the people. Distribution of ideasmixed together with cultural-values makingup norms and institution which at the endconstitute identities and interests of thestate. The process of interest formation alsolurks by the culture (Wendt 1999, p.104).Thus interest are not given and shapedthrough material things, but rather from theprocess of distribution ideas or non-materialelements.
In sum, analysis of ideas that shared bythe people will be employed to examine theunderlying reasons that caused people’smigration under the absence of diplomaticrelations among their government. Ideas arethe reasons that endorse those peopleinteract with another countries andsocieties. Wendt narrow down the conceptof ideas into “knowledge” (Wendt 1999,p.104) that can be either private or sharedknowledge. “Private knowledge consists ofbeliefs that individual actors hold that otherdo not”(Wendt 1999, p.104). This privateknowledge refers to the domestic orideological considerations that being thekey determinant of people to frame and acttoward the surrounding environment.
Meanwhile “shared knowledge orculture is the knowledge that becomescommon knowledge among individuals”(Wendt 1999, p.141). Thus on this sense,socially shared knowledge or culture alsoplay a role to influence actor’s interactions.Private and shared knowledge are thefoundations that influence people to interactwith others.
Private and socially shared knowledgewill be formed into an institution.Institution plays important role in bridgingthe governmental relations and providingnetwork sharing and information. Asargued by Wendt (1992), “institutions arefundamentally cognitive entities that do notexist apart from actor’s ideas about how theworld works”. This institution embodied
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the distribution of ideas that socially sharedby the people. Distribution of ideas togetherwith the creation of institution constitutesthe interest of the state that eventuallyinfluences the state’s behavior to nurture itsrelations with the country that does notshare diplomatic relations.
Analytical Framework
Drawing from the above mentionedtheoretical explanations, Indonesia andTaiwan relations could be explained bylooking at the people-to-people interactionsthat existed among their ties. Moreover, theconcept of distribution of ideas – making upnorms and institutions – constitute interestwill also be employed to further analyzesthe underlying reason that causedIndonesia is able to nurture its economicand socio-cultural relations with Taiwan.The clear explanation will be below
Above is the clear picture of Indonesiaand Taiwan relations that built from people-to-people interaction. Both countries cankeep their contact due to the interactionsthat constructed by the people. A clear notemust be made that people on the context ofIndonesia and Taiwan relations are notlimited to those above written, which thispaper will be dealt with3. Further analysis
3 The term people within Indonesia and Taiwan relations arenot limited to Indonesian businessmen, Indonesian migrantworkers and Indonesian students. There are also otherpeople such foreign spouse and/or Indonesian academiccommunity. However, due to the limitation of this thesis
will be addresses the underlying reasonsthat push or pull Indonesian businessmen,Indonesian migrant workers andIndonesian students come to Taiwan fortheir own purposes. Concept of ideas,institution and interest are the mainanalytical tools to examine the underlyingreasons.
The term ideas consist of privateknowledge and socially share knowledge.These two knowledge narrows down intoseveral frameworks that caused Indonesianpeople interact with Taiwan. There are threemain frameworks that help to explain theunderlying reasons of people’s migration:environmental, economic, and culturalframeworks. These frameworks will be usedto examine factors that endorsed Indonesianbusinessmen; Indonesian migrant workers;and Indonesian students choose Taiwan astheir destination for business, study andwork.
Above is the clear picture of Indonesiaand Taiwan relations that built from people-to-people interaction. Both countries cankeep their contact due to the interactionsthat constructed by the people. A clear notemust be made that people on the context ofIndonesia and Taiwan relations are notlimited to those above written, which thispaper will be dealt with4. Further analysis
that will analyze the economic and socio-cultural tiesbetween Indonesia and Taiwan, hence the tool of analysisonly consists of those former three categories of people.4 The term people within Indonesia and Taiwan relations arenot limited to Indonesian businessmen, Indonesian migrant
Figure 4 Indonesian Diplomatic Relations with Taiwan
I. TaiwanIndonesia No Diplomatic Relations
People-to-people interactions:1. Indonesian Businessmen2. Indonesian Migrant Workers3. Indonesian Students
146 Indonesia-Taiwan Relations: Indonesian Perspective
will be addresses the underlying reasonsthat push or pull Indonesian businessmen,Indonesian migrant workers andIndonesian students come to Taiwan fortheir own purposes. Concept of ideas,institution and interest are the mainanalytical tools to examine the underlyingreasons.
The term ideas consist of privateknowledge and socially share knowledge.These two knowledge narrows down intoseveral frameworks that caused Indonesianpeople interact with Taiwan. There are threemain frameworks that help to explain theunderlying reasons of people’s migration:environmental, economic, and culturalframeworks. These frameworks will be usedto examine factors that endorsed Indonesianbusinessmen; Indonesian migrant workers;and Indonesian students choose Taiwan astheir destination for business, study andwork.
workers and Indonesian students. There are also otherpeople such foreign spouse and/or Indonesian academiccommunity. However, due to the limitation of this thesisthat will analyze the economic and socio-cultural tiesbetween Indonesia and Taiwan, hence the tool of analysisonly consists of those former three categories of people.
Furthermore, ideas contribute to themaking-up institution such IndonesianBusiness Association, Indonesian StudentAssociation and Indonesian MigrantWorkers Association. These institutionsserve as independent agent that promotesIndonesia and Taiwan relations on thecontext of economic and socio-cultureissues. These ideas and institution resultedin interest of Indonesia to maintaineconomic and socio-cultural relations withTaiwan. At the end, it will conclude thatpeople-to-people interaction creates threekinds of interactions between Indonesia andTaiwan: unofficial interaction, semi-officialinteraction, and official interaction.
In order to get the valid results aboutthe proposed indicators below, this paperconducts several interviews with relevantpeople to support the secondary data. Thisproposed framework will be discussed onthe next section of this paper.
This section covers the main analysis ofthe paper, ideas, institution and interests.To analyze ideas, institutions and interestswithin Indonesia and Taiwan relations, thissection will be divided into three mainparts. First part discusses three mainframeworks of ideas that caused Indonesianpeople come to Taiwan for the purpose ofbusiness, working, and studying. Secondpart concerns on the making up institutionsdue to the shared ideas of the people. Thirdpart talks about the resulted interests fromthe process of distribution of ideas andmaking up institutions.
Framework of IdeasThere are a lot of factors that
endorse Indonesian students, Indonesianmigrant workers, and Indonesianbusinessman to come to Taiwan. To explainfactors related to the people’s migration,this paper conducts interviews with threedifferent groups of people. The first isrepresentative from Indonesianbusinessmen who is being in charge as thehead of Indonesian Employers AssociationsStore in Taiwan or Asosiasi Pengusaha TokoIndonesia di Taiwan (hereafter APIT) andrepresentative from Indonesian Federationof Taiwan Alumni Associations or IkatanCitra Alumni Taiwan Se-Indonesia (hereafterICATI). The second is the representativefrom Indonesian migrant workers inTaiwan, represented by the head ofIndonesian Migrant Workers Association inTaiwan or Ikatan Pekerja Indonesia Taiwan(hereafter IPIT). The last is representativefrom Indonesian students in Taiwan,represented by the head of IndonesianStudent Association in Taiwan orPerhimpunan Pelajar Indonesia di Taiwan(hereafter PPI Taiwan). In addition, theinterview was also conducted to some
government officials that are relevant to thecase studies.
Based on the results of interview, existthree main frameworks to explain theunderlying reasons that influence student,migrant worker, and businessman chooseTaiwan as their destination for study, workand run business. First is environmentalframework which relates to the domesticand external situations that endorse peoplemove to Taiwan. Second, economicframework relates to economicconsideration of the people. Third iscultural framework that associate withcultural aspects that both develop inTaiwan and Indonesia.
Environmental FrameworkEnvironmental framework relates to the
domestic and external factors that endorsepeople move to Taiwan on the purpose ofstudying, working or doing business.Domestic factor is internal conditionswithin the state that force people to seekworking, studying or business’ opportunityoverseas. Meanwhile, external factor iscertain conditions in the host country thatattract people to look for better prospectabroad. This factor associated with thecomparative advantage which is earned bythe designated country compare to others.Indonesian businessmen, Indonesianmigrant workers and Indonesian studentsgo for Taiwan due to domestic and externalfactors that stem within environmentalframework.
Based on the interview conducted withthe representative of Indonesianbusinessmen, migrant workers andstudents, this paper sum up severalenvironmental frameworks that causeIndonesian people go to Taiwan for doingbusiness, working and studying.
148 Indonesia-Taiwan Relations: Indonesian Perspective
Economic FrameworkEconomic framework relates to
economic reasons that endorse peopleseeking opportunity abroad for business,working and studying. This frameworkfocuses on maximum economic benefits thatpeople could earn if they go to Taiwanrather than to other countries. Threecategories of people consider economicframework as one of the important pushingfactors that stimulate their willingness tolook for better opportunity in Taiwan.Based on the interview conducted with therepresentative of Indonesian businessmen,migrant workers and students, this papersum up several economic frameworks. (seeTable 3).
Cultural FrameworkThe last framework is cultural
framework that concern about the influenceof culture within people-to-peopleinteractions. As argued by Wendt, ideasconsist of private and socially shareknowledge. Socially share knowledgeclosely related to cultural matter thatinfluences interactions. This framework willexplain the impact of culture that eventuallystimulates Indonesian people to connectwith Taiwan. Culture could be related tolanguage and society’s beliefs and values.Summary of cultural framework listed inTable 4.
Table 2 Summary of Environmental Framework
Category of PeopleEnvironmental Framework
Domestic Factor External FactorIndonesian businessmen(run business in Taiwan)
Indonesian migrant workers 1. Wants to gain workingexperiences overseas
2. Low degree of educationand skills
Faster working placementprocedure and process inTaiwan
Indonesian students Demands to transform thestructure of the university inIndonesia
1. Taiwan will be animportant country in thefuture
2. Taiwan offersinternationalenvironment for study
3. Taiwan has good qualityof research equipmentsand professors
4. Taiwan share similareducation system like inthe U.S.
Source: From the Author
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In sum, Indonesian businessmen,migrant workers and students come toTaiwan due to several ideas that narrowdown into three main frameworks:environmental, economic, and culturalframework. These ideas or privateknowledge will be very “thin” idea unless itmixes with the shared knowledge or culture(Wendt 1999, p.141). Thus, Ideas combineswith the influence of culture will endorsepeople from one state to interact withothers. These frameworks successfullyexplain the underlying reasons that causeIndonesian people look for Taiwan in thepurpose of business, working and studying.
Creation of Institution and Norms
Drawn from the previous explanations,shared ideas either private or sharedknowledge making up norms andinstitutions. The previous sections, alreadyaddressed the shared ideas of doingbusiness in and with Taiwan, working, andstudying in Taiwan. This section willexamine how shared ideas contribute to thecreation of institutions and norms withinIndonesia and Taiwan. Institutions andnorms relate to the existence of associationthat built by those three types of people.
Table 3 Summary of Economic FrameworkCategory of People Economic Framework
Indonesian businessmen (doing business inTaiwan)
1. Business opportunity in Taiwan2. Small amount of capital to run business
Indonesian businessmen (doing businesswith Taiwan/Taiwanese Business People)
Sizes of Taiwan’s enterprises
Indonesian migrant workers 1. High rate of unemployment2. Bigger amount of salary in Taiwan
Indonesian students 1. Taiwan offers sufficient amount ofscholarship
2. Taiwan offers reasonable cost of tuitionfees and living
Source: from the Author
Table 4 Summary of Cultural FrameworkCategory of People Cultural Framework
Indonesian businessmen (doing business inTaiwan)
Mandarin as means of communication
Indonesian businessmen (doing businesswith Taiwan)
1. Mandarin as means of communication2. Sense of ownership to the motherland in
China3. Familiar and experienced with
Taiwanese culture and ethicIndonesian migrant workers 1. Beliefs of filial piety that create high
demand of migrant workers2. Mandarin as means of communication
Indonesian students Taiwan offers Mandarin’s environment forstudy
Source: from the Author
150 Indonesia-Taiwan Relations: Indonesian Perspective
Therefore, this part will discuss theexistence of institutions such AsosiasiPengusaha Toko Indonesia di Taiwan (hereafterAPIT), Ikatan Citra Alumni Taiwan Se-Indonesia (hereafter ICATI), Ikatan PekerjaIndonesia Taiwan (hereafter IPIT) andPerhimpunan Pelajar Indonesia di Taiwan(hereafter PPI Taiwan). As argued byWendt, institution exists due to share ideasof the people. Hence these institutions andnorms are existed due to the consequence ofprivate and shared knowledge or ideas.Institution plays important role in bridgingthe governmental relations and providingnetwork sharing and information.Furthermore, these institutions serve theirrole as independent agent eitherindependent economic agent and/orindependent socio-cultural agent5. Theyhave valuable strategic and bargainingpositions on the context of strengtheningIndonesian and Taiwan relationsparticularly on economic and socio-culturalissues.
In order to address the role of thoseinstitutions, this paper also conducts in-depth interview analysis with the head ofthe representative of the Institutions. Theresult of the interview is showed in theFigure 6.
Asosiasi Pengusaha Toko Indonesia diTaiwan or APIT was established in 2008with the main aims to coordinate businessactivities among Indonesian businessmen inTaiwan. Due to a huge interactions andpopulations of Indonesian stores in Taiwan,it needs an association to coordinatebusiness activities to reduce the unfairbusiness competition and stigma among theIndonesian businessmen (Head of Asosiasi
5I used the term independent agent for those institutions thathelp to promote Indonesia and Taiwan relations. The termindependent agent means this institution promoteseconomic and socio-cultural relations between Indonesiaand Taiwan but has independent status because theirmovement not based on the order of the government. Theterm will be used for those institution throughout thissection
Pengusaha Toko Indonesia di Taiwan (APIT)2013). So far APIT has 70 members thatspread-out from the north into the south ofTaiwan. APIT serve as independent socialagent or “social ambassadors” because thisinstitution has two main social programs:provide social assistances programs andpassport services for the migrant workers(Head of Asosiasi Pengusaha Toko Indonesia diTaiwan (APIT) 2013).
Social assistances program is APIT’sactivity related to the financial action’sgiven toward Indonesian migrant workersthat have serious illnesses or get accidentduring the working time, but not affordablefor the medication cost. The other programis providing passport services for theIndonesian migrant workers withreasonable prices. The original price toapply for new passport is NTD 750,however, due to several technical reasonssuch taking photo, fingerprint process, andinterview, the migrant workers shouldspend around NTD 3,000 – 5000 for thosewho live in Taipei and NTD 5,000 – 10,000for those who live in Kaohsiung (Head ofAsosiasi Pengusaha Toko Indonesia di Taiwan(APIT) 2013). Thus, to reduce the cost ofpassport services, APIT works together withthe IETO to provide passport servicesprogram with reasonable prices for themigrant workers (Head of AsosiasiPengusaha Toko Indonesia di Taiwan (APIT)2013). Hence, those migrant workers thatrequire to extent their passport only need togo to APIT branch offices and give themandate of passport to APIT. On this case,APIT also works as “social ambassadors”both for the Indonesian government andmigrant workers. Furthermore, APIT alsoserve as independent economic agentthrough their business activities thatcontribute to the foreign remittance and taxfor both Indonesia and Taiwan.
The second institution is ICATI. ICATIserves as independent cultural agent andindependent economic agent that help to
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promote the economic and socio-culturalrelations between Indonesia and Taiwan.On the context of independent culturalagent, ICATI conducts several programssuch as hosted the Calligraphy Class whichsponsored by Taipei Economic and TradeOffice (hereafter TETO), provide assistancesfor Indonesian students that willing tocontinue their study in Taiwan, andpromoter for the sister-city MOU betweenSingkawang, West Kalimantan withTaoyuan, Taiwan (ICATI Website 2013).ICATI activities always include therepresentative from TETO, thus ICATIbuild socio-cultural network with Taiwanthrough its representative office in Jakarta.
On the context of independent economicagent, ICATI served as a bridge for theTaiwanese Investors that going to invest inIndonesia (President of IndonesianFederation of Taiwan Alumni Association(ICATI in Bahasa) 2013). They create abridge that has two main functions. First,ICATI built economic cooperation andnetwork with Taiwan Business Club in 2008and TETO Economic Division (President ofIndonesian Federation of Taiwan AlumniAssociation (ICATI in Bahasa) 2013). Thesecooperation and network help to promoteinvestment activity in Indonesia which isdone by Taiwanese Business People.Second, ICATI also help to reduce languagebarrier that occurred between theTaiwanese investors and local partners inIndonesia. ICATI’s members are graduatedfrom Taiwan universities thus made themable to speak fluent Mandarin.
The third institution that also buildsfrom the shared ideas of the people isIndonesian Migrant Workers Association inTaiwan or Ikatan Pekerja Indonesia Taiwan(hereafter IPIT). IPIT was established in2008 as a response toward a bunch ofviolations against Indonesian migrantworkers from the Taiwanese employer(Head of Ikatan Pekerja Indonesia Taiwan(IPIT) 2013).There are two categories of
violation against the migrant workers: laborcase violations and non-labor caseviolations (Head of Labor Department,Indonesian Economic and Trade Office(IETO) in Taipei 2013). Labor case violationsrelate to the problem of payment of salary,taxes and savings procedure with agents;meanwhile non-labor cases include the caseof sexual harassment. In order to reducethe burden and raise solidarity amongmigrant workers against the violation, theIndonesian migrant workers formed IPIT.
IPIT also serves as an independentsocial agent that concern over the capacitybuilding activity for the migrant workers.This institution has two main activities thathelp to build the capacity knowledge of theIndonesian migrant workers (Head of LaborDepartment, Indonesian Economic andTrade Office (IETO) in Taipei 2013). First,provide training such language enrichmentprogram (Mandarin and English), music,and computer learning. Second, hold adiscussion forum to search a solution for theIndonesian migrant workers that have todeal with some violation problems. In orderto solve the violation problems, IPIT alsowork together with IETO office. From thesetwo programs, IPIT play as independentsocial agents which help to solve theproblem of migrant workers by building alinkage between Indonesian representativegovernment and Taiwan’s non-governmental organization that focus onmigrant workers issues.
The last institution is PPI Taiwan. PPITaiwan was established on May 2nd, 2010with four main aims: to strengthen thesense of brotherhood and unity amongIndonesian students in Taiwan, to actualizeacademic community and environmentamong Indonesian students, to performactively as an Indonesian culturalambassador abroad, and to strengtheninternational cooperation and partnershipwithin people and society both towardTaiwan, Indonesia and international
152 Indonesia-Taiwan Relations: Indonesian Perspective
community (the Statute of IndonesianStudent Association in Taiwan, Article 7).The member of PPI Taiwan comprises allIndonesian students in Taiwan, hence, PPITaiwan actually has a lot of network fromits member because it includes Indonesianstudents all over Taiwan that also havevarious professional background orknowledge (Head of Perhimpunan PelajarIndonesia di Taiwan (PPI Taiwan) 2013).
PPI Taiwan has several main programsto fulfill its function as independent socio-cultural agent. First, PPI Taiwan routinelyconducts capacity building activity withmigrant workers. This capacity buildingactivity always includes the Director ofLabor Department IETO as the guestspeaker with various topics suchimmigration, employment, consular andhow to solve problems related to themigrant workers.
In addition, the capacity building alsoinvolves health counseling on the issues ofHIV/AIDS. This kind of capacity buildingnot only takes place in northern Taiwan butalso held in Central or Southern Taiwan.
Source: from the Author
Second, PPI Taiwan also activelyorganized focus group discussion, seminaror public discussion that discusses variousacademic topics and invites professionalguest speakers. This activity aims toincrease the capacity building of Indonesianstudents in Taiwan.
Third, PPI Taiwan also involve withingovernmental research project facilitated byIETO. Fourth, PPI Taiwan alwaysparticipates and supports IndonesianCulture Exhibition or Festival which heldby Indonesian students to introduceIndonesian culture toward Taiwanesesociety. This activity can create mutualunderstanding between Indonesia andTaiwan both in present and future time.
The last, PPI Taiwan provideinformation and networking center forIndonesian students that are going to studyin Taiwan. In this way, PPI Taiwan alsohelps Taiwan to improve the number ofinternational students from Indonesia thatwould like to earn degree in Taiwan. Insum, the emergence of PPI Taiwan helps topromote people-to-people interactionsbetween Indonesia and Taiwan under theabsence of diplomatic relations.
•Build economiccooperation andlinkages with TBCand TETO
IPIT
•Serve asindependentsocial agent
•Work andcooperate withthe IETO to solvethe violationsagainst Indonesianmigrant workers
PPI Taiwan
•Serve asindependent socioand culturalagents
•PPI Taiwan’sactivities legallysupported by theIETO
•Create a linkagebetweenpeople/studentsand government
Figure 6 The Role of Institutions in Indonesia-Taiwan Relations
Journal of ASEAN Studies 153
Overall, similar distribution of ideasabout coming to Taiwan for the purpose ofbusiness, working, and studying contributeto the making up institutions. Theseinstitutions are formed under the sense ofunity and brotherhood to help each otherand to improve interaction withinbusinessmen, migrant workers andstudents.
Furthermore, those four institutionswork independently as economic and socio-cultural agent; hence they can promoteIndonesia and Taiwan relations without anyfear of political interventions or pressurethat could occur from any sides as aconsequent of one-China policy that hold byIndonesian government (Head ofPerhimpunan Pelajar Indonesia di Taiwan (PPITaiwan) 2013). The existence of theseinstitutions also provides an incentive forthe Indonesian government to maintain itseconomic and socio-cultural relations withTaiwan. It proves through several officialgovernmental exchanges that occurredthrough the incentives that stem from thepeople-to-people interactions.
Economic and Socio-Cultural Interestsbetween Indonesia and Taiwan
According to Wendt (1999) shared ideasboth private knowledge and socially sharedknowledge making up norms andinstitutions that constitute state’s identitiesand interests. The two previous sections ofthis article have already discussed aboutshared ideas and making up institutionsbetween Indonesia and Taiwan. Hence, thissection will analyze the third indicators ofindependent variable about economic andsocio-cultural interest between Indonesiaand Taiwan. These interests stem due to theshared ideas and creation of institutions bythe Indonesian businessmen, Indonesianmigrant workers and Indonesian students.Furthermore, these interests cause three
levels of interactions between Indonesia andTaiwan that stem from people-to-peopleinteractions.
The first is unofficial interaction thatpurely consists of only economic and socio-cultural interactions that do not includeformal governmental exchanges. Thesecond is semi-official interaction that hasaverage political implications. This levelincludes official governmental exchangeseither from Taiwan or Indonesia. The last isofficial interaction that comprises of officialgovernment-to-government exchangesbetween Indonesia and Taiwan. This levelgives highest political implications becauseit contains official government exchanges.In order to explain economic and socio-cultural interest between Indonesia andTaiwan as well as the level of interactionsthis section will be divided into two parts,economic interests and socio-culturalinterest.
Economic InterestsEconomic interests of Indonesia toward
Taiwan stem from people-to-peopleinteractions that build from Indonesianbusinessmen together with Taiwaneseinvestors. Indonesia that adhere one-Chinapolicy principle will be difficult to defineand conduct its economic relations withTaiwan. However, due to Indonesianbusinessmen that collaborate withTaiwanese investors created massiveeconomic interactions and networks, bothcountries are able to maintain its economicrelations. There are three levels of economicinteractions that appear to measureeconomic interests between Indonesian andTaiwan.
The first is unofficial economicinteraction. On this level, interactionsbetween Indonesia and Taiwan purely builtthrough economic activities such trade andinvestment conducted either by Indonesianbusinessmen or Taiwanese business people.There are no official governmental
154 Indonesia-Taiwan Relations: Indonesian Perspective
exchanges between the two countries onthis level of interactions. Economic activitieson this level include but not limited toforeign direct investment from Taiwan toIndonesia, recruitment of Indonesianworkers to work at Taiwanese factoriesbuilt in Indonesia, trade through privatefirms, business or trade conferenceconducted by private sector, seminar and/orfairs that not include government officials,and other activities that only rely on purelyeconomic interactions. So, the final outcomefrom those activities would be to fulfill theeconomic interest between Indonesia andTaiwan.
The second level is semi-officialeconomic interactions that compriseeconomic exchanges between officials eitherfrom Indonesia or Taiwan with Indonesianbusinessmen and/or Taiwan businesspeople.
Economic activities within this levelwere mostly conducted by independenteconomic agents such as ICATI and TaiwanBusiness Club that also invite governmentalofficials whether from Indonesian orTaiwan. From 1990 until 2012, there havebeen 6 semi-officials economic interactionsbetween Indonesia and Taiwan.
The table 6 shows semi-officialeconomic exchanges between Indonesia andTaiwan. These activities mostly run byTaiwan business people that work togetherwith Indonesian businessmen, which alsoinvolved government officials either fromIndonesia or Taiwan. The outcome not onlycontributes to economic benefits but alsoaverage political implications becauseinvolving some of government officials.
Table 6. Semi-Officials Economic Exchanges between Indonesia and Taiwan, 1990-2012
Date Semi-Officials EconomicExchanges
Main Aims
May 1991 Jakarta-Taipei School wasestablished
To fulfill the needs of better education ofTaiwanese Businessmen’s children thatreside in Jakarta
July 1995 Surabaya-Taipei InternationalSchool was established
To fulfill the needs of better education ofTaiwanese Businessmen’s children thatreside in Surabaya
2000s Taiwan reduce the amount ofcapital to invest or run business inTaiwan
To attract more investment or businessactivity from foreign countries includingIndonesia
July 2011 Indonesia and Taiwan BusinessDay organized by TAITRA washeld in Taipei
To discuss and to improve futureeconomic relations between Indonesiaand Taiwan
September2011
MOEA Taiwan launched abusiness tour to Indonesia for theinvestment and business activities
To facilitate the investment and businessactivities of Taiwanese investors inIndonesia
July 2012 Hon Hai Chairman (Foxconn)Terry Gou, visited Indonesia as theinvitation from the Indonesiangovernment
To survey the market for investment inIndonesia
Source: Data collected randomly from reliable sources such Governmental OfficialWebpage and Indonesia and Taiwan Newspaper
Source: Data collected randomly from reliable sources such Governmental OfficialWebpage and Indonesia and Taiwan Newspaper
Journal of ASEAN Studies 155
The third level is official economicinteraction. This level of interactionincludes official economic exchanges thatinvolve high-level of government officialssuch as Minister or Deputy Representativebetween Indonesia and Taiwan.
Official economic exchanges embracetwo main activities: sign MOU to strengtheneconomic relations and governmental visitor exchange.
Table 7 Officials Economic Exchanges between Indonesia and Taiwan, 1990-2012Date Official Economic Exchanges Main Aims
1990 Indonesia and Taiwan signed BilateralInvestment Protection Agreement
To give protection and non-discriminationstatus for foreign investment in Indonesia,including Taiwanese investment
January1995
The Indonesian Chamber of Commercein Taipei was renamed into theIndonesian Economic and Trade Office(IETO) in Taipei
To further strengthen the economic and tradeactivity between Indonesia and Taiwan. Thisideas stem due to the increasing number ofinvestment and trade activities that stem frompeople-to-people interactions
1995 Indonesia and Taiwan signedAgreement for the avoidance of doubletaxation and the prevention of fiscalevasion with respect to taxes on income
To regulate the taxation system in order toavoid double taxation that could stem fromeconomic activities between Indonesia andTaiwan
July 2010 Indonesia's Minister for MaritimeAffairs and Fisheries visited Taiwan topropose joint development in MorotaiIsland to President Ma Ying Jeou
To develop Morotai Island and to diversifyTaiwanese investment in Indonesia. Taiwaneseinvestment in Indonesia mostly concentratedin Java Island under the area of JababekaGroup
August2010
The Chairman of Indonesia InvestmentCoordination Board (BKPM), GitaWirjawan, visited Taipei and Kaohsiungfor investment purpose
To increase investment activities betweenTaiwanese investors and Indonesianbusinessmen
September-October2010
Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs,Dr. Yen-Shiang Shih made a visit toJakarta together with Taiwanesebusiness delegation
To make a courtesy call on BKPM and tovisit Jababeka and Lippo CikarangExport Processing Zone for assessmentof investment.
March 2011 Indonesian Minister of Marine Affairsand Fisheries visited Taiwan toparticipate in the "Forum forCooperation in Morotai" and advocatebilateral cooperation towarddevelopment in the island
To discuss the further implementation of jontdevelopment over Morotai Project
May 2012 Indonesian Trade Minister visitedTaiwan
To discuss the investment possibility ofFoxconn
December2012
Taiwan-Indonesia signed memorandumof understanding on a plan to jointlydevelop Morotai Island
To develop Morotai Island through investmentactivities that conducted by Taiwaneseinvestors and local partner of Indonesianbusinessmen
Source: Data collected randomly from reliable sources such Governmental OfficialWebpage and Indonesia and Taiwan Newspaper
156 Indonesia-Taiwan Relations: Indonesian Perspective
From 1990 until 2012, there have been 9official economic interactions in terms oftrade and investment that conducted byboth Indonesia and Taiwan government.These official economic contact, mainly aredriven to accommodate the investment andtrade interests that stem from people-to-people interactions. The official interactionscan be in the Table 7.
Based on the table 7 above, it shows thatofficial governmental interactions betweenIndonesia and Taiwan were mainly formedthrough the interests of Taiwaneseinvestment and Indonesian businessmenthat would like to further increaseinvestment and trade activities. Economicactivities that conducted throughIndonesian businessmen and Taiwanbusiness people, give political implicationstoward government affairs. Their activitiesforce both governments to work togetherthough under the absence of diplomaticrelations.
The government works as economicfacilitator and economic provider for themassive interactions that emerge frompeople-to-people interactions.6 The termeconomic facilitator and provider refer tosome activities such issuing visa for thosewho want to run business both in Indonesiaand Taiwan, formulating regulations toensure investment activities, searching localpartners for Taiwanese investments,providing information about trade andinvestment activities, signing MOU to lureinvestment and trade relations.7 In sum,Indonesia’s economic interest towardTaiwan stems and shapes from theinteractions that built by Indonesianbusinessmen and Taiwanese investors.
6 This statement also supported by Indonesianrepresentative officials in IETO based on the interview withthe Head of Industry Department, Indonesian Economic andTrade Office in Taipei, done in March 13rd, 2013 andinterview with the Head of Investment Department,Indonesian Economic and Trade Office in Taipei, done onMarch 13rd, 20137 Ibid.
Socio-Cultural Interests
Indonesia’s socio and cultural interesttoward Taiwan mostly stem from theinteractions that built by Indonesianmigrant workers and Indonesian studentsin Taiwan. Their huge population andinteraction in Taiwan also caused threedifferent levels of interactions. On thecontext of socio-cultural relations, interestnot only forms through people but alsofrom the existing institutions.
Unofficial socio-cultural interactionsbetween Indonesia and Taiwan occurthrough several socio-cultural activitiesdone by Indonesian migrant workers andIndonesian students. Indonesian migrantworkers through its institution called IPITusually conduct a discussion forum to solveviolation related to migrant workers. Thisdiscussion forum involves other institutionsfrom Taiwan such as Taiwan InternationalWorkers Association. Both institutionscreate unofficial social interactions throughtheir discussion forum. Furthermore,migrant workers that work as care-takeralso contribute to unofficial socio-culturalinteractions both for Taiwanese society andIndonesia.
In addition to Indonesian migrantworkers, Indonesian students in Taiwanalso build unofficial socio-cultural relationswith Taiwan. These students periodicallyheld Indonesian Cultural Festival orExhibition in order to promote Indonesianculture to international communityparticularly Taiwan.
This event not only invites studentsfrom Indonesia to perform but also studentsand faculty member of Taiwan’s universityto enjoy the cultural performance. Thisactivity creates unofficial cultural exchangesbetween Indonesia and Taiwan throughIndonesian’s dance, music and dramaperformance.
Journal of ASEAN Studies 157
The second level of interactions is semi-official interactions. On this level, socio-cultural interactions is not only built byIndonesian students but also conducted byIndonesian businessmen under their owninstitution. From 1990 until 2012, there havebeen six semi-official interactions betweenIndonesia and Taiwan as shown in theTable 8.
The table 8 clearly describes severalsemi-official exchanges between Indonesiaand Taiwan in terms of socio-culturalrelations. Exchanges mostly occurred due tothe interactions built from Indonesianstudents and Indonesian businessmen.
On this context, Indonesianbusinessmen under ICATI not onlycontribute to semi-official economicexchanges but also semi-official socio-cultural exchanges. The outcome of theseexchanges will improve the number ofIndonesian students in Taiwan, strengthensocio-cultural interactions in the future, andcreate mutual understanding among thesociety.
The last level of interactions is officialsocio-cultural interactions that includegovernment to government exchangesbetween Indonesia and Taiwan.
Table 8 Semi-Officials Socio-Cultural Exchanges between Indonesia and Taiwan,1990-2012
Date Semi-Official Exchanges Main Aims2004 Taiwan through its Ministry of
Education provide TaiwanGovernment Scholarship forIndonesian students
To encourage outstanding international studentsto undertake degree studies in Taiwan so as tofamiliarize themselves with academicenvironment in Taiwan and promotecommunication, understanding and friendshipbetween Taiwan and countries around theworld
April 2010 ICATI together with TaiwanBusiness Club and TETOrepresentative visited WestKalimantan, Indonesia
In order to realize MOU sister-city betweenTaoyuan and Singkawang, West Kalimantan
May 2010 The Elite Study in Taiwan (ESIT)delegation visited Indonesia
To enhance education cooperation withIndonesia
October 2010 The Ministry of Education Taiwanheld the first Taiwan HigherEducation Fair in Indonesia
To strengthen cultural and educationalinterchange between Taiwan and Indonesia
September-October 2011
The second Taiwan HigherEducation Fair took place in Aceh,Yogyakarta and Surabaya
to facilitate Indonesian students withinformation of scholarship and universityadmission procedure
October 2012 The third Taiwan HigherEducation Fair held in Surabayaand Jakarta
to facilitate Indonesian students withinformation of scholarship and universityadmission procedure
Source: Data collected randomly from reliable sources such Governmental OfficialWebpage and Indonesia and Taiwan Newspaper
158 Indonesia-Taiwan Relations: Indonesian Perspective
Under the absence of diplomaticrelations, it would be difficult for Indonesiaand Taiwan to conduct formalgovernmental exchanges; however, people-to-people interactions contribute to theofficial socio-cultural interactions betweenthe two countries.
Furthermore, the existence ofinstitutions in Taiwan also helps theIndonesian government to have betterunderstanding toward Taiwan. During 1990until 2012, there have been 7 governmentalexchanges between Indonesia and Taiwanon terms of socio-cultural issues. Detailexchanges sum-up in Table 9.
Source: Data collected randomly from reliable sources such Governmental OfficialWebpage and Indonesia and Taiwan Newspaper
Journal of ASEAN Studies 159
The table above shows that officialsocio-cultural exchanges stem after themassive interactions lead by Indonesianmigrant workers and Indonesian studentsin Taiwan. On the context of migrantworkers, Indonesia signed MOU in 2004and 2011. In 2004, Indonesia signed MOU toovercome the problem of ban Indonesianmigrant workers. Moreover, in 2011Indonesia renewed the MOU with Taiwan’sgovernment. Furthermore in July 2011, theIETO office set up Labor Department toundertake the migrant workers affairs.Those efforts are in line with the dynamicinteraction which emerged from themassive connection produced byIndonesian migrant workers in Taiwan.
The Indonesian government that adhereone-China policy will be difficult to conductofficial governmental relations in terms ofsocio-cultural relations. However, due tothe existence of Indonesia migrant workersin Taiwan, the Indonesian government isable to conduct official governmentalexchanges. On this manner, the Indonesiangovernment serves its basic function aseconomic and security provider for itscitizen. In addition, the government alsoworks together with institution such IPIT,APIT and PPI Taiwan to maximize thestate’s function as economic and securityprovider toward Indonesian migrantworkers.
Similar case with the migrant workers,Indonesian students in Taiwan also shapethe socio-cultural interests of Indonesiatoward Taiwan. Indonesian governmentsigned MOU on higher educationcooperation in 2011 in order to improve thesocio-cultural exchanges between twocountries. Furthermore, both countries alsoworked to hold Indonesia and TaiwanHigher Education Summit. Those effortsconducted to strengthen socio-culturalexchanges between Indonesia and Taiwanthat already well-established through theintense interactions of Indonesian students
in Taiwan. Moreover, the Indonesiangovernment representative in Taipei alsoworks with PPI Taiwan to further discussabout the possibility of opening up theeducation attaché in IETO in the near future(Head of Perhimpunan Pelajar Indonesia diTaiwan (PPI Taiwan) 2013). Thus, in thisline, shared ideas of entering Taiwan in thepurpose of study contribute to the makingup institutions that eventually influencestate-to-state interactions.
In sum, Indonesia economic and socio-cultural interest toward Taiwan stem andconstitute from the process of distributionideas and creation of institutions whichbuilt by Indonesian businessmen,Indonesian migrant workers andIndonesian students in Taiwan. These threecategories of people that serve as thepromoter of ideas lead the interaction withTaiwan which eventually encourages theIndonesian government to maintain itseconomic and socio-cultural relations withTaiwan. In addition, people-to-peopleinteractions resulted in three different levelsof exchanges: unofficial, semi-official andofficial exchanges.
Conclusion
As mentioned before, the main aim ofthis paper is to analyze the underlyingreason that caused Indonesia is able tonurture its economic and socio-culturalrelations with Taiwan even though underthe absence of political diplomatic relations.In order to analyze the underlying reason,this thesis employs constructivist approachthat focus on the role of people-to-peopleinteractions between Indonesia and Taiwan.
This paper argues that Indonesianpeople as the promoter of ideas lead theinteractions with Taiwan thus made theIndonesian government maintains itseconomic and socio-cultural relations withTaiwan. Ideas that narrow down into
160 Indonesia-Taiwan Relations: Indonesian Perspective
private knowledge and socially sharedknowledge influence the Indonesianbusinessmen, Indonesian migrant workersand Indonesian students to conduct people-to-people interactions with Taiwan.
Moreover, these distributed ideascontribute to the making up institutions.Those institutions served as independenteconomic agent, independent social agentand independent cultural agent thatinfluence the work of the structure which isthe government. The distribution of ideastogether with creation of institutionsconstitutes interest of Indonesia towardTaiwan.
Economic interest of Indonesia towardTaiwan stem from people-to-peopleinteractions that built from Indonesianbusinessmen together with Taiwaneseinvestors, meanwhile Indonesia’s socio andcultural interest toward Taiwan stem fromthe interactions that built by Indonesianmigrant workers and Indonesian studentsin Taiwan. During 1990 until 2012, therewere both 6 semi-officials exchanges interms of economic and socio-cultural issues.
Meanwhile, in terms of economic officialexchanges, Indonesia conducted 9 contactswith Taiwan; while 7 governmentexchanges in terms of socio-cultural issues.These contacts occurred after intenseinteractions conducted by Indonesianbusinessmen, Indonesian migrant workersand Indonesian students.
Under the absence of diplomaticrelations, Indonesian government served aseconomic and security provider for theactivities built by Indonesian businessmen,Indonesian migrant workers andIndonesian students. It is the basic functionand the obligation of the state to protecttheir citizen interest wherever the citizenreside or living. On the context of economicand security provider, the governmentfacilitates people-to-people interactionsthrough some activities such issuing visa,signing MOU that can strengthen themutual interactions, providing betterenvironment for economic activities,formulating regulations and other activitiesthat categorized as the basic functions of thestate. The clear picture of Indonesia andTaiwan relations shows below (Figure 7).
People-to-people interactions:1. Indonesian Businessmen2. Indonesian Migrant Workers3. Indonesian Students
Un-official exchangesbetween Taiwan andIndonesia
Official exchangesbetween Taiwan andIndonesia
Economic and Socio-Cultural Interests
Ideas – Knowledge
Institutionalism – APIT,ICATI, IPIT and PPI Taiwan
Figure 7 Analytical Framework on Indonesia-Taiwan Relations
Journal of ASEAN Studies 161
At first Indonesian and Taiwan do nothave official diplomatic relations. However,people in terms of Indonesian businessmen,Indonesian migrant workers andIndonesian students keep coming to Taiwanor keep in touch with Taiwan for business,working and studying activities. Thesepeople shared their ideas about private andsocially shared knowledge that caused themto come to Taiwan. Moreover, in Taiwan,these people build some institutions tofurther strengthen their interactions withTaiwan. Furthermore, shared ideas thatcontribute to making-up institutionsconstitute the economic and socio-culturalinterests of Indonesia. The economic andsocio-cultural interests define through threedifferent levels of exchanges betweenIndonesian and Taiwan: unofficialexchanges, semi-official exchanges, andofficial exchanges. The second and thirdlevel of exchanges not only consists ofeconomic and socio-cultural interest butalso contribute to the political implicationsin terms of government-to-governmentrelations. Hence, due to the Indonesianpeople as promoter of ideas lead theinteractions with Taiwan; Indonesia is ableto maintain its durable economic and socio-cultural relations with Taiwan despiteunder the absence of diplomatic relations.
About Author
Luh Nyoman Ratih Wagiswari Kabinawa is aJunior Lecturer at Department of InternationalRelations, Bina Nusantara University. Sheobtained her master degree from Institute ofChina and Asia-Pacific Studies, National SunYat-sen University, Taiwan, ROC. Her area ofinterest includes Taiwan’s relation withSoutheast Asia, ethnic Chinese in SoutheastAsia, people-to-people relations, andinternational political economy. She can becontacted at [email protected],
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