Lessons from the CPC Congress

Posted by AsiaViews | Oct 30, 2017 | 0 |

The Jakarta Post

Oct 26, 2017
The Chinese ruling party concluded its one-week congress on Tuesday, with a pledge to bring prosperity to the world’s most populous country and enhance its global role. The world, including Indonesia, watched the developments at the crucial congress closely, where, as expected, President Xi Jinping cemented his grip on the Communist Party of China (CPC). Xi’s re-election as secretary general of the party, and hence as president of the People’s Republic of China, matters to the world. China’s strong leadership over the next five years will be instrumental in shaping the global landscape, as well as its stability and prosperity.

The congress’ unexpected decision to include the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the party’s constitution, in addition to the widely expected inclusion of Xi’s “Thoughts on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era,” demonstrated how the latest developments in China impact, directly or indirectly, on Indonesia.

The BRI, formally known as the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative, was introduced during Xi’s visit to several Central and Southeast Asian countries as the Silk Road Economic Belt. To complement this plan, the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road was introduced during Xi’s speech at the Indonesian House of Representatives in October 2013.

With Xi calling on party members to clinch a final victory in building a society of moderate prosperity, the BRI has become a mechanism with which to share China’s prosperity with its neighbors. For Indonesia, this is through the Jakarta – Bandung medium-speed railway and countless other infrastructure projects dotted throughout the archipelago.

The Indonesian government should make the most of the financing and development opportunities presented by the BRI while at the same time ensuring the law of the land prevails.

Another concern for Indonesia vis-à-vis a more affluent and powerful China is the unresolved territorial dispute over parts of the South China Sea near the Natuna Islands in Riau Islands province. Future confrontations may occur as both countries cling to the importance of territorial integrity despite their commitment to peaceful co-existence.

With Xi envisioning a more modern and powerful military for the new era, the Indonesian military must also continue to reform and modernize itself to respond to the ever-changing strategic environment. Indonesia could in fact learn from China’s defense industry, which previously managed to end its reliance on the former Soviet Union.

Another lesson that can be drawn from Xi’s three-and-a-half-hour, 65-page-report (in its English version), is the country’s anticorruption campaign, which Xi said was aimed at cleaning the party of the graft practices of both “flies and tigers” — a reference to low-ranking and high-ranking party officials. A huge number of officials, including those holding key positions, have been expelled from their positions and faced punishment.

While communism is outlawed here, there are a myriad of universal lessons Indonesia could draw from the just concluded CPC national congress.

(http://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2017/10/26/editorial-lessons-from-the-cpc-congress.html)

About The Author

AsiaViews

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Neigborhood Watch

Subscribe To Newsletter

POINTS TO PONDER

EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD

Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.

“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”

Lessons from the CPC Congress