I. Political Relations
China and
Indonesia established diplomatic relations on 13 April 1950,
which was suspended on 30 October 1967 due to the occurrence
of the "November 30 event" of
1965.
The bilateral relations began to ease
since 1980s. Foreign Minister Qian Qichen of China met
respectively with President Soharto and State Minister
Moerdiono of Indonesia in 1989 to discuss the resumption of
diplomatic relations of the two countries. In December 1989,
the two sides held talks on the technical issues regarding
the normalization of bilateral relations and signed the
Minutes. Foreign Minister Ali Alatas of Indonesia visited
China on invitation in July 1990 and the two sides issued
the Agreement on the Settlement of Indonesia's Debt
Obligation to China and the Communique on the Resumption of
Diplomatic Relations between the two
countries.
Premier Li Peng visited Indonesia on
invitation in August 6, 1990. In his talks with President
Soharto, the two sides expressed their willingness to
improve and develop the friendly relations and cooperation
between the two countries in the spirit of looking forward
and on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful
Co-Existence and the Ten Principles of Bandung Conference.
On 8 August, Foreign Ministers of China and Indonesia on
behalf of their respective governments, signed the
Memorandum of Understanding on the Resumption of Diplomatic
Relations. The two sides declared the formal resumption of
the diplomatic relations between China and Indonesia on that
day.
The bilateral relations developed steadily
since the resumption of diplomatic relations of the two
countries. The leaders of the two sides have maintained
exchange of visits and contacts. As a result, mutual
understanding and trust had been increasing, laying the
foundation for the healthy and steady development of
bilateral relations. The two Ministries of Foreign Affairs
set up a consultative mechanism and have held 5 rounds of
consultations by 1999. The recent years have witnessed the
constant deepening of economic and trade cooperation and
increase of the trade volume year by year. Exchanges and
cooperation in other fields are under way. China and
Indonesia have maintained good coordination and cooperation
in international and regional affairs. Some of the issues
between the two countries left over by history are starting
to be solved.
Since the resumption of
diplomatic ties between the two countries, President Yang
Shangkun (in 1991), Chairman of NPC Standing
Committee Qiao Shi (in 1993) and Vice Premier
Zhu Rongji (in 1996)of China visited
Indonesia. President Soharto(in 1990), Speaker
of Parliament Suhud(in 1991), Vice President
Sudarmono(in 1992) and Chairman of the Supreme
Advisory Council Sudomo(in 1997) visited
China. President Jiang Zemin of China paid a state visit to
Indonesia in November 1994 after he attended the second APEC
Leaders' Informal Meeting. In December 1999, President K.H.
Abdurrahman Wahid of Indonesia paid a state visit to China,
during which the two countries issued a joint press
communiqué. In July 2000, Vice President Hu Jintao
visited Indonesia at the invitation of Vice President
Megawati.
Indonesia has its Consulate-General
in Hong Kong.
II. Economic and Trade Relations
and Technological Cooperation
Bilateral trade
volume has risen very quickly since the two countries
resumed diplomatic ties, from 1.18 billion US$ in 1990 to
7.464 billion in 2000, with an increase of 54.5% over the
previous year.
The investment and technological
cooperation between China and Indonesia have been initiated.
The two sides signed in November 1990 the MOU on the
Establishment of a Joint Commission on Economic, Trade and
Technical Cooperation and the Minutes on the Establishment
of a Joint Commission on Economic, Trade and Technical
Cooperation. The Commission has held four meetings by 1999.
During President Jiang Zemin's visit to Indonesia in
November 1994, the agreement on promotion and protection of
investment and the MOU on Cooperation in Science and
Technology were signed. Various exhibitions and seminars on
industry, trade and investment are frequently held by the
two sides.
III. Exchanges and Cooperation in
Cultural, Scientific and Technological and Military
Fields
The exchanges and cooperation in such
various fields as culture, science and technology,
education, health, military affairs, religion, tourism,
communication, agriculture and forestry between China and
Indonesia have been further developed after the resumption
of their diplomatic ties. The two sides signed a series of
documents for strengthening the friendly exchanges and
cooperation in the above-mentioned fields. The Agreement
Relating to the Scheduled Air Transport was signed in
January 1991. Air China, China South Airlines and Garuda
Indonesian airlines opened direct flights between the two
countries. The Ministry of Radio, Film and Television of
China and the Ministry of Information of Indonesia signed a
MOU on information cooperation in January 1992. Xinhua News
Agency of China and Antara Press of Indonesia set up their
branch offices respectively in Jakarta and Beijing according
to the relevant articles of the MOU. The two sides started
the programme of student exchange in 1994. The
Indonesia-China Association of Economic, Social and Cultural
Cooperation was founded in July 1992, and the
China-Indonesia Association of Economic and Cultural
Cooperation was founded in August 1993. The two associations
signed a MOU on cooperation. In addition, the two sides
signed a MOU on promotion of cooperation in tourism, and
MOUs on health and sports cooperation. In July 2000, the two
countries signed an agreement on mutually granting judicial
assistance to each other. By the end of September 2000, the
Chinese government formally ratified Indonesia as a tourist
destination of Chinese citizens traveling overseas.
IV. Other Issues
There are about
7 million Indonesians of Chinese origin and a certain number
of Chinese nationals residing in Indonesia. The issue of
Chinese Indonesians and overseas Chinese in Indonesia
remains sensitive in bilateral relations due to various
reasons. The Chinese government made representations and
expressed its concern over the violence against Chinese in
the turmoil taking place in Indonesia in May 1998 and
requested the Indonesian government to make thorough
investigation on the incidents and take effective measures
to protect the legitimate rights and interests of ethnic
Chinese in Indonesia. The Indonesian government pronounced
later that it'll abolish all the discrimination policies
against Chinese and other nationalities.
V.
Other Major Bilateral Agreements and
Documents
In May 2000, Foreign Minister Tang
Jiaxuan and visiting Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab
signed a joint statement on the direction of the development
of bilateral relations in the future and a memorandum of
understanding about putting in place a joint committee on
bilateral cooperation.
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