Indonesia and China: the politics of a troubled relationship
- London: Routledge, 1999
- 224p.
- Politics in Asia .
Describes and analyses the reasons for Indonesia's unilateral suspension of diplomatic relations with China in 1967 and why these were not restored until 1990. Argues that this can be best understood in terms of the efforts made by the military based "new order" government to sustain political legitimacy. To counter domestic challenges great emphasis was placed on the claim to be the guardian of the state against communist threats. Normalisation of relations would have reduced the credibility of this claim. Changes came about with President Suharto's change of emphasis from maintenance of order to economic development. Normalisation of relations strengthened the President's position and somewhat reduced that of ABRI.