INTRODUCTION

Given the transitional nature of development in which both China and Indonesia are currently faced, any conclusion on how the rise of China is going to affect Indonesians is provisional by necessity. While miraculous growth performance gives China a more attractive look to a world which is obsessed with wealth accumulation, the litmus test of sustainability still lies ahead for China when the time comes to address political rights of more than one-fifth of world population. One should not overlook the fact that back in the fifteenth century, China was on the threshold of being industrialized, but it is in faraway England that mechanization became for the first time commercialized, harnessing together technological ingenuities from around the globe. The post- crisis economic performance of Indonesia undoubtedly pales against that of China. However, Indonesia has at least dared to step into the long road to political democratization, though it, too, is yet to pass the litmus test of effective delivery of goods and services that people expect from a democratic government.

The impact of the rapid rise of China on Southeast Asia in general and Chinese Indonesians in particular as explored in this chapter are highly complex. While China can be seen as the masterpiece of globalization of the last quarter of the twentieth century, it is faced with a number of downside risks emanating from domestic, regional and global developments. How Indonesians look at a rapidly progressing China depends, among other things, on how they perform economically in comparison with the Chinese. A rapidly progressing economy is much more likely to result in a positive perception of China than one that stagnates. Chinese Indonesians would be less inhibited in exploiting the opportunities that emerge in the wake of China's rise under a strong performance of the Indonesian economy. Even at the cost of being repetitive, discussion in this chapter covers first of all, the sustainability of the rise of China; secondly, the global and regional environment; thirdly, outlook for a strong growth in Indonesia; and lastly, the impact of China's remarkable transformation on Chinese Indonesians who for a long time have served as the backbone of Indonesia's commercial sector.