Singapore News Network recently reported that, according to the result of a survey that the Australian Lowy Institute conducted, the Indonesian people identify China as their biggest security threat. The survey showed that only 43 percent of Indonesians believe that Chinese investments are beneficial to Indonesia. That figure is down from the 54 percent in 2011. A whopping 50 percent believe that China’s goal is to dominate Indonesia. The survey also showed that China has replaced Malaysia as the country considered by the most Indonesians to be a potential aggressor Also, about half of the respondents believe that China will pose a security threat in the next ten years, which is an increase of ten percentage points from the previous survey results. However, only 55 percent of the respondents expressed trust in Australia, down 20 percent from 2011. Fifty-six percent of respondents said they trust the U.S., down 16 percent. Around 65 percent of those surveyed trust Japan, but this is down 15 percent from the past. Survey results clearly showed Indonesians have little trust in big powers. Evan Laksmana, a senior researcher at the Center for Asia and Globalization at the National University of Singapore, who participated in this research, said that, for the Indonesian people, China is no longer seen as a mere economic opportunity, but as a series of challenges.
Source: Singapore News Network, April 7, 2022
https://www.sgnews.co/21142.html