Indonesia needs to be wary of China-Taiwan tensions: Gov’t agency

“Regarding China and Taiwan, we know that China and Taiwan are the main exporters of the world’s electronic components. So, China and Taiwan are very strategic for Indonesia’s international trade.”

 

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – The Indonesian government needs to be aware of geopolitical tensions between China and Taiwan that could affect Indonesia’s trade balance, an official has said.

“We need to be aware of this development because China and Taiwan are also important in Indonesia’s international trade,” Deputy for Distribution of Statistics and Services at the Statistics Indonesia (BPS) Setianto told a press conference here on Monday.

China is Indonesia’s strategic trading partner, with a contribution of more than 20 percent of Indonesia’s total exports and imports, Setianto said, adding that Indonesia’s exports to Taiwan also tend to increase as recorded in the BPS’ data collection.

“Regarding China and Taiwan, we know that China and Taiwan are the main exporters of the world’s electronic components. So, China and Taiwan are very strategic for Indonesia’s international trade,” Setianto noted.

Meanwhile, China is the second largest exporter of an integrated electronic circuit commodity globally and the world’s largest exporter of computers, including office machine parts.

Meanwhile, Taiwan is the first largest exporter of an integrated electronic circuit commodity in the world and the fourth largest exporter of office machine parts worldwide.

“So, related to these geopolitical records, China and Taiwan are very strategic for Indonesia’s international trade,” Setianto stressed.

The relations between China and Taiwan briefly heated up when U.S. house speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei on August 2, which was immediately responded by Chinese military activities in the Taiwan Strait from August 4 to 7, 2022.

The United States warned China against using the visit as a pretext for military actions against Taiwan.

On the other hand, ambassadors from various countries to China expressed their strong support for the One China policy and rejection of Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, which they said violated China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Reporting by Indonesia Window