Wednesday night’s meeting on Nov. 16 between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his host, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, exemplifies the world now coming into being around the revival of the Non-Aligned Movement and new cooperation mechanisms emerging from the Global South in cooperation with China and Russia. The discussion between the two leaders, and the extensive cooperation agreements they signed, at the center of which was the Belt and Road Initiative and what one Chinese engineer called the “revolutionary” Jakarta-Bandung High Speed Railroad (HSR), reflected that very spirit of Bandung which so terrifies the Anglo-American/NATO establishment.
A very upbeat Global Times of China today pointed out that the two countries’ vision to build a community with a shared future “is set to embark on a speedy ride, heading toward a new era of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation between China and Indonesia.” At a time of great global uncertainty, division, and discord, it said, the Widodo-Xi meeting, along with the agreements they signed, “is an embodiment of this year’s G20 summit task: to foster pragmatic cooperation such as the Jakarta-Bandung HSR [high-speed railroad] rather than making the U.S.-led geopolitical gambit mindset further jolt the world apart.” (https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202211/1279745.shtml )
The Jakarta-Bandung HSR is a flagship project of the BRI, whose economic and political ramifications for Indonesia and the broader region are stunning. It is the first high-speed railroad built in Indonesia and in Southeast Asia. Now 90% complete, it is expected to be inaugurated in June 2023, to which ceremony Xi Jinping has been invited to return.
Reflecting the optimistic environment, before their meeting, the two watched the operational trial of the HSR by video, giving the command “Begin!” for the train to start to move, pull out of the Tegal Luar station, and gather speed. This was met with enthusiastic applause by the spectators. Zeng Weixian, a senior engineer of the China Railway No. 4 Engineering Group, told Global Times that the railway will immediately generate a “revolutionary effect” on the local economy and people’s livelihoods, with long-term benefits expected from the “HSR economic corridor” created along the train’s route. Chinese firms have already trained 10,000 local employees and expect to create at least 30,000 jobs.
