Enhancing People-to-People Cooperation between ASEAN and East Asia Countries through Counterparts: The Case of Indonesian Students in Taiwan

Journal of ASEAN Studies, Vol. 1, No. 2 (2013), pp. 164–175©2013 by CBDS Bina Nusantara University and Indonesian Association for International RelationsISSN 2338-1361 print / ISSN 2338-1353 electronic

Enhancing People-to-People Cooperation betweenASEAN and East Asia Countries through Counterparts:The Case of Indonesian Student in Taiwan

Paramitaningrum Tamkang University, Taiwan

AbstractBesides businessmen and workers, Indonesian students have become one of the recentimportant actors in Indonesia - Taiwan bilateral relations. Currently, Taiwan became one ofthe popular destinations among Indonesians to pursue their highest degree. In 2013, thenumbers of Indonesian students has reached 3000 persons, made them the third largest groupof Southeast Asian students in Taiwan after Vietnamese and Malaysians. The Indonesianstudents are quite organized and active. Giving the lack of diplomatic relations between bothcountries, these students are potential to be one of the significant actors to bridge Indonesia -Taiwan relations. However, they have some limitations on conducting their activities. On theTaiwan side, this trend has not gained sufficient responds. Indonesia is still considered anunattractive object to study, comparing to other Southeast Asian countries. Thereforeinteraction tends to be one side only. This paper would discuss on (1) what the Indonesianstudents in Taiwan can do to maximize their capabilities to attract Taiwanese to learn moreabout Indonesia; (2) How the Taiwanese should respond to these trends, in order to create twoways of interaction. In that case, the counterparts are significant to bridge the limitations ofmutual interaction between both states, especially to eliminate the unclear perceptions amongTaiwanese to Indonesia, which might affect Indonesia – Taiwan bilateral relations, and topromote Indonesia in the better outlook.

Keywords: Soft Power, actor, Indonesian Students, people-to-people interaction,counterparts, Indonesia-Taiwan

Introduction

Besides businessmen and workers,students have become one of the recentimportant actors in enhancing cooperationbetween ASEAN countries and their Pacificneighbours. Interaction among students andscholars from both sides is getting common.

Multiple channels of contacts facilitateinteraction among students and scholarsfrom both sides. The workshops on

Managing Potential Conflicts in the SouthChina Sea, and Council for SecurityCooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP) aresome examples of the multilateral forumwhich scholars from ASEAN countries canhave interaction with their Asia Pacificcounterparts, including Taiwan (Ku, 1998).Apart from that, several bilateral contactsbetween students and scholars from bothregions are getting intensive.

Journal of ASEAN Studies 165

Indonesian students have become one ofthe recent important actors in Indonesia -Taiwan bilateral relations. In the past fewyears Taiwan became one of the populardestinations among Indonesians to pursuetheir higher degree.

The numbers of Indonesian students arearound 3000 persons in 2013 and it madeIndonesians as the third largest group ofSoutheast Asian students in Taiwan afterVietnamese and Malaysians. Indonesianstudents are organised and active. There areseveral Indonesian students’ organizations,which also promote Indonesian culture, inTaiwan.

Giving the lack of diplomatic relationsbetween both countries, people-to-peopleinteractions are the suitable way to bridgeIndonesia – Taiwan relations. Thesestudents are likely to be one of the ‘liaisonofficers’ between both sides, although, theyalso have some limitations on conductingtheir activities.

On the Taiwan side, this trend has notgained sufficient responds. Indonesia is stillas an unattractive object to study,comparing to Vietnam, the Philippines orMalaysia. Very little Taiwanese scholarsand students learn about Indonesia.Therefore interaction tends to be one sideonly.

This paper discusses on (1) what theIndonesian students in Taiwan can do tomaximize their capabilities to attractTaiwanese to learn more about Indonesia;(2) How the Taiwanese should respond tothese trends, in order to create two ways ofinteraction. In that case, the counterpartsfrom the Taiwan side are significant toencourage the interaction process.Therefore, it would strengthen people-to-people relations in Indonesia – Taiwanrelations.

Framework of analysis

Actors play a significant role ininternational relations. Traditionally, state isalways seen as the most importantinternational relations actor. However, inthe past two decades, the role of non-stateactors, including individual in internationalrelations is increasingly important.However, Papp (1988) argued that the roleof individual in international relations isoften difficult to determine because of therole that same individual may have head inan organisation, agency, or in governmentparticipating in international affairs.Therefore, an individual can play role isbecause of its own personal capability or itsaffiliation in certain institutions or both ofthem.

Furthermore, Papp (1988) explainedthat other types of private individualcontacts also play definite but un-documentable roles in international affairs,such as student exchanges, foreign teaching& research, long term job-related migrationor permanent settlement, and similaractivities all yield personal level interactionsbetween citizens of different countries.Individual can play diverse roles incontemporary international affairs and alsoplay major roles in transmission of cultureand values. Individual can also involve inpolicy formulation and implementation,and even in economic affairs. TheIndonesian students are categorised as an‘individual actors’ of international relations,because they migrate to other countries,interact with local people and other peoplefrom different countries. They also promoteIndonesian culture, in the place where theystay.

Due to the lack of diplomatic relationsbetween Indonesia and Taiwan, theinteractions between both countries arefocused more on non-political issues, suchas economic and social-culture. These states(both Indonesia and Taiwan) are still the

166 Enhancing People-to-People Cooperation

main actors but both have limitation to doits function. As a result, non-state actorsalso have to be involved. Indonesianstudents, with other non-state actors, suchas Indonesian workers, Indonesian spousesand Indonesian businessmen are expectedto support state actors on doing suchrelations. Apart from economic activities,social-cultural activities are the supportingcomponent, which facilitates people-to-people interaction.

Furthermore, when people-to-peopleinteraction is implemented, the soft poweris also applied. Soft power is the ability toget what you want through attractionrather than coercion or payments. It arisesfrom the attractiveness of a country'sculture, political ideals, and policies (Nye,2004). Nye further added “When ourpolicies are seen as legitimate in the eyes ofothers, our soft power is enhanced". Thesoft power of a country depends on threeresources: its culture (in places where it isattractive to others), its political values(when it lives up to them at home andabroad), and its foreign policies (when theyare seen as legitimate and having moralauthority). Therefore, people from aparticular country promote their soft powerin their interaction with people from othercountries. Through social and culturalactivities, they introduce their own valuesthrough their culture, attitude andperformance. In the level of state-to-staterelations, a country will do the same like theordinary people do, but their action isdescribed through its foreign policy and itsstance on international affairs.

Soft power would call of people’sattention if the ideas are unique andadjustable with to the prevailing globalnorms (for instance multiculturalism andpluralism). Besides, the multiple channel ofcommunication is significant to deliver theideas. For that reason, state and non-stateactors should work together. Meanwhile,the interaction between states actors in

international relations somehow has notbeen enough, due to some limitations (e.g.national priorities, lack of diplomaticrelations). Therefore another officialmechanism to back up the interaction, whoinvolves non-state actors, is needed.

Currently, such interactions whichinvolve state and non-state actors arecommon. In this paper, Indonesian studentsand their efforts on promoting Indonesiacan be categorised as soft power becausethey represent Indonesia and try to makeother people feel attracted and would like toget to know more about Indonesia for thesake of those people’ interests. Thesestudents are categorised as the non-stateactors because they are considered as non-sovereign entities that exercise significanteconomic, political, or social power andinfluence at a national, and in some casesinternational level.1 These studentsrepresent Indonesia but they are ordinarycitizen, not government officials. Therefore,they are more flexible on having interactionwith people across border, refers to Josselinand Wallace said that the non-state actorsare not fully autonomous from centralgovernment funding and control, but theyare participating in networks which extendacross the boundaries of two or more states–thus engaging in ‘transnational’ relations(Josselin and Wallace, 2001).

Being young scholars in a foreigncountry, these students are also concernedabout how to improve Indonesia to be abetter country and shared their thoughtsthrough internal and external academicforums. There are two main frameworksthrough which the world of scholarsintersects with the world of policy whichcan accommodate them. The first is“epistemic communities,” which is anetwork of professionals with recognised

1 “Non-State Actors: Impact on International Relations andImplications for the United States,” accessed athttp://www.fas.org/irp/nic/nonstate_actors_2007.pdf


expertise and competence in a particulardomain and an authoritative claim topolicy-relevant knowledge within thatdomain or issue-area. (Haas, 1998). Theprofessionals may be from a variety ofdiscipline and backgrounds but are boundby shared normative and causal beliefs,shared notions of validating knowledgeclaims, and “a set of problems to whichtheir professional competence is directed,presumably out of the conviction thathuman welfare will be enhanced as aconsequence.”

The second is “track-two dialogue”which means “unofficial policy dialoguesfocused on problem solving in which theparticipants have some form of access toofficial policymaking circles” (Kaye, 2007).Wanandi further added that track twoinvolves the participation of governmentofficials in a private capacity, a principlethat supposedly allows for free discussionand flexibility (Wanandi, 1995). Acharyaalso explained how epistemic communitiesand track-two forums may impact onpolicy. The first is through policy innovation,or generation of new policy ideas. Thesecond is the “constitutive localisation”,whereby local actors proactively buildcongruence between global norms and pre-existing local ideas and practices. As part ofthis, they may serve as “filtering”mechanism for approaches to cooperationdeveloped in other parts of the world so asto make them locally applicable. Thirdly,epistemic communities and track-twodialogues also serve as platforms forvalidation and legitimization of the ideasand policies of governments. Fourthly, theycan generate dissent; which while not be tothe liking of policymakers, alerts them toalternative ideas and approaches out therein terms of which their own preferences willbe benchmarked and assessed (Acharya,2011). The epistemic community may havedifferent opinion and stance with thepolicymakers, and both sides recognise it.

Despite of such differences, the epistemiccommunity’ opinion will still beacknowledged publicly.

A brief overview about Indonesia

Indonesia is an emerging regionalpower, which has attractive physical andnon-physical modalities. The Republic ofIndonesia is the largest archipelagic state inthe world, located in Southeast Asia. Its sizeis 1.919.440 square kilometres. Indonesia issituated in the equator between the Asianand Australian continents and between thePacific and Indian Oceans.

Indonesia consists of 18,000 islands withpopulation around 251,160,124 million. 2

This made Indonesia the fourth largestpopulated country in the world, afterChina, India and the USA in 2012.3 Thesefacts made Indonesia as one of thesignificant countries in Southeast Asiabecause its population is almost half of totalASEAN population.

Indonesia is an emerging economicpowerhouse in Southeast Asia. Economicannual growth rate is about 6.23 %, little bitlower than in 2011, which reached 6.5%.4Indonesian per capita GDP has reached $3495 (2011). 5 It is reported that Indonesiahas 45 million members of the consumingclass, 55 million skilled workers, and $0.5trillion market opportunity in consumerservices, agriculture and fisheries,resources, and education (McKinsey, 2012).It is also understandable because around42.2% of Indonesian population is in the

2Based on the estimation of CIA the World Fact book (July2013), retrieved inhttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/id.html3 http://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?v=21&t=204 Indonesia's Economic Growth Slows, The Wall StreetJournal, February 5, 2013, accessed inhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324445904578285081322220700.html5 http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD


productive age (25-54 years).6 That meansIndonesia is developing its capacity tostrengthen its position as an emergingpower.

Furthermore, Indonesia’ long processdevelopment to be a democratic country isremarkable. In the level of state-to-stateinteraction, the participation in ASEAN,East Asian Summit (EAS) and G-20 forum isgood indicator to show that Indonesia is anactive player. In other words, Indonesiaprefers to work together, instead of being asolo player. Nevertheless, not allIndonesians enjoyed their countriesachievements. Non-state actors have notbeen more involved, since the opportunitiesare still limited.

After Indonesia had political turbulencein 1998, the domestic condition is changed.Indonesia encountered a transition from anauthoritarian to the democratic country.Within a democratic order, state is still animportant actor but non-state actors startedto play important role in the Indonesiapolitical arena. This means peopleaspiration and views can be no longer beingignored. Therefore Indonesian foreignpolicy should be re-formulated also toaccommodate such condition.

According to Sukma (2011), theconfluence of democracy & moderate Islam– described as assets of foreign policy andconstrued as key elements of soft power –has become an important element ofIndonesia’s foreign policy and publicdiplomacy since 2002. However, he alsorecommends these two things (democracyand moderate Islam) should be betterconstructed to be the value to createIndonesia’s image in the world. Although ithas not been completely perfect, Indonesiais seen as a role model for buildingdemocracy and pluralism. Bali DemocracyForum and The Interfaith Dialogue Forumhelp Indonesia to project its international

6 Ibid

posture. Such abovementioned modalitiesand achievements made Indonesia haveenough capacity to raise its soft powers.

Those two abovementioned events wereorganised by Indonesian Ministry ofForeign Affairs. This institution so far is themain actor to promote Indonesian softpower. Since 2002, the Ministry of ForeignAffairs had internal reform program andadjust its foreign policy machinery, in orderto meet the new challenges in Indonesiapost-authoritarian government.

After Indonesia had transformationfrom authoritarian to democraticgovernment, Ministry of Foreign Affairsstarted to hold several events to invite non-state actors. These are aimed to gain somevaluable input for Indonesian foreign policystrategy.

In addition to that, Indonesia hastremendous numbers of human resources topromote its soft power. The biggest numberof Indonesian population is in theproductive age (25-54 years old). Some ofthem live in the foreign countries, asstudents, foreign workers, and immigrantspouses. The number of Indonesiansstudying abroad is between to 40.000 to50.000 (British Council 2010).7 Australia,U.S, the UK and Singapore were the mostdesirable destination for Indonesians.

They have several reasons to studyabroad such as gaining the better educationenvironment, increasing the horizon, thefuture jobs opportunities, improvingforeign language skills, and train thepersonal maturity and independence.Recently, Japan, Korea, Malaysia andTaiwan become the popular destination tostudy, because of those abovementionedreasons, the quality of education in such

7 http://www.britishcouncil.org/eumd-information-background-indonesia.htm. Also see, “Vice Minister ofNational Education, Fasli Jalal, said now the number ofIndonesian students abroad reached 40,000 people,” SeputarIndonesia, 19 January 2010,http://www.seputar-indonesia.com/edisicetak/content/view/298794/1/


countries, and the geographical location. Inaddition to that, those countries alsoprovide scholarships for Internationalstudents. This is also another triggeringfactor to attract Indonesians study to studythere.

Indonesian students in Taiwan

Taiwan is an interesting case study.Since there is no diplomatic relations withIndonesia, the relation between both sides isfocused more on non-political issues. Tradeis the main activities, followed bycooperation in the field of economy,agricultural, health and education. BesidesIndonesian businessmen and workers,Indonesian students also become one of therecent important actors in Indonesia –Taiwan bilateral relations.

As it is seen in the table 1, the numbersof Indonesian students are increasing in thepast few years. The table shows that until2012, Indonesians are the third largestgroup of foreigners studying in Taiwanafter Vietnamese and Malaysians. TheIndonesian students in Taiwan areconsisted of the students of Mandarinlanguage programs and non-languageprograms or degree seeking programmes(undergraduate and graduate level).

The non-language program students aremostly majoring in engineering, technologyand businesses management. Recently,studying in Taiwan becomes much morepopular, since Taiwan government offeredseveral kinds of scholarships forInternational students since 2004.8 In

8 Five government agencies (Ministry of Education (MOE),Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Ministry of EconomicAffairs (MOEA), National Science Council of the ExecutiveYuan (NSC) and ICDF (International Cooperation andDevelopment Fund) ---have jointly established theScholarship Program of Taiwan to encourage outstandinginternational students to undertake degree programs inTaiwan. See

addition to that, Taiwan government hasbilateral Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) with the Government of AcehProvince, to give scholarships for a numberof Indonesian students from Aceh to studypostgraduate in Taiwan. Meanwhile,several universities in Taiwan also pro-actively recruit students from severaluniversities in Indonesia.

As a result, several Indonesianuniversities now also have several kinds ofcooperation with universities in Taiwan,such as offering double degree andsandwich programme.9 In addition to thatTaiwan Higher Education Fair is annuallyheld in several big cities in Indonesia. In2011, Taiwan Education Center (TEC) isestablished in Surabaya, East Java.10

Recently, Indonesian Ministry ofEducation also provided many kindsscholarships for Indonesian teaching staffsto pursue their higher academic degreeabroad and some of them also chooseTaiwan.11 Here, interactions between bothcountries are increasing to enhancecooperation on education sector.

http://english.moe.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=6798&CtNode=10632&mp=19 National Taiwan University of Science and technology(NTUST) and National Pingtung University of Science andTechnology (NPUST) are one of Taiwan universities havedouble degree program with University of Brawijaya inMalang and Institute of Technology Sepuluh November(ITS) in Surabaya. Both Brawijaya and ITS are located inEast Java, Indonesia.10 TEC is a non-profit organisation, funded by TaiwanMinistry of Education and aimed to promote highereducation in Taiwan and strengthen bilateral academicexchange between Taiwan and Indonesia. TEC OfficialWebsite “About TEC” Retrieved in February 14th 2014 fromhttp://portal.tecindonesia.com/?page_id=13&lang=en.11 This scholarship program is managed under ProgramBeasiswa DIKTI or the Directorate of Higher Education’Scholarship Program


Besides scholarships offers, there someother factors influence Indonesian to chooseTaiwan to be their study destination: (1)Taiwan is only a short distance fromIndonesia; (2) Taiwan expertise on scienceand technology also can meet Indonesianslack of competence; (3) Taiwan alsobecomes a favourite place for Indonesianswho wants to improve their Mandarinlanguage skills. Those factors, categorisedas ‘push and pull’ factors by Mazzarol andSoutar (2002), attracted Indonesian studentsand increased the number of them inTaiwan.

Indonesian Students organisations inTaiwan

There are three Indonesian students’organizations: PERPITA, FORMMIT, andPPI-Taiwan. PERPITA (台灣印尼僑生聯誼會) is an abbreviation from Persatuan PelajarIndonesia di Taiwan. It was established in1960 in National Cheng Kung University(NCKU) with 35 members.

This organization aimed to helpIndonesian students to gain and exchangeinformation about studying and living inTaiwan and to facilitate Indonesian studentsto get together. The establishment ofPERPITA also obtained support from 僑委

會 or Organization of Overseas CompatriotAffairs Commission (OCAC) and 印尼歸僑協會 (Indonesian Overseas ChineseAssociation). Until the year 2001, thememberships of PERPITA reached to 800students.

FORMMIT (Forum Mahasiswa MuslimIndonesia di Taiwan) or Indonesian MoslemStudent Forum in Taiwan (台灣印尼學生穆斯林論壇) is established in 2006 inTaichung. It is aimed to maintainrelationships between Indonesian Muslimstudents in Taiwan and to become a forumof gaining and exchanging skills andexperiences among Indonesian Moslemstudents.

The number of FORMMIT membersroughly is 130 students, spread out fromNorthern to the Southern of Taiwan.

Table 1 Number of ASEAN Student in TaiwanYearCountry

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

BruneiDarussalam

- - - - - -

Cambodia 24 14 6 8 - -Indonesia 2281 2275 2274 2472 2723 3200Laos - - - - - -Malaysia 1001 1560 1961 2286 - -Myanmar/Bu

rma47 33 17 17 - -

Philippines 302 313 292 336 - -Singapore 67 103 99 102 - -Thailand 549 637 760 848 - -Vietnam 1779 2592 3282 3687 - -Sources: from various sources


FORMMIT has regular and specialactivities. Regular activities are mostlyconcentrated to the religious activities, suchas reciting Al Qur’an together and listeningto religious lecture by a cleric. ButFORRMIT members also has specialprogrammes, such as teaching some skillssuch as Computer and Basic accounting,conducting workshop on entrepreneurshipsfor Indonesian workers, and having aregular scientific discussion about thecurrent issues with Indonesian andTaiwanese experts.

FORMMIT also have an annual specialactivity, the Annual Indonesian ScholarsConference in Taiwan (AISCT). It had beenheld three times, and had various topicsfrom economic, agriculture and informationand communication technology. AISCT wasattended by Indonesian scholars fromIndonesia, Singapore, Japan and theIndonesian students in Taiwan.

PPI Taiwan (Perhimpunan PelajarIndonesia di Taiwan - 台灣印尼學生聯合會)or Indonesian Student Association inTaiwan is established in the 2nd of May2010, in the commemoration of IndonesianNational Education Day, in Chung YuanChristian University, Chungli. Thisorganization is also aimed to gatherIndonesian students in Taiwan and to playsome role on developing Indonesian humanresources by encouraging Indonesianstudents to study and to learn some skills,to develop their personal capacity.

PPI Taiwan mostly cooperates withother PPI in the university levels, whenthese organizations conducted someactivities.12 There are some examples of

12 Several universities in Taiwan, which has around 15-300students, such as National Taiwan University of Science andTechnology (NTUST), National Cheng Chi University(NCCU), National Cheng-Kung University (NCKU),National Central University (NCU), National Dong HwaUniversity (NDHU), National Pingtung University ofScience and Technology (NPUST), Chung Yuan ChristianUniversity (CYCU), Chinese Culture University (CCU), AsiaUniversity, established Indonesian Student Association in

these partnerships such as giving somesupport to several PPI in the universitylevel, which held Indonesian CulturalEvents, or academic conferences, and theywork together on making a serial ‘LenteraIde’, about the life of Indonesian students ornon-students in Taiwan. PPI Taiwan alsohas some other related student activities.13

One of their latest and current activitiesis to cooperate with Indonesian Economicand Trade Office in Taipei, to run Taiwanbranch of Indonesia Open University(Universitas Terbuka – Taiwan or UT-Taiwan). This university was opened in2011 in Taipei.

Currently, Universitas Terbuka - Taiwanhas about 100 students, who are mostlyIndonesian workers in Taiwan, tutored byIndonesian students, who are pursuingtheir graduate studies in Taiwan.Previously, Universitas Terbuka already hadopened its branches in Saudi Arabia,Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and SouthKorea.

In April 2012, The First Taiwan –Indonesia Higher Education Summit washeld in Taipei. This is the second high levelmeeting between Indonesia and Taiwan todiscuss about education. The first one washeld in Bali in 2011, while Indonesia andTaiwan signed An Agreement ofCooperation in the Field of HigherEducation.

Under this umbrella agreement, thecooperation between both countries areenhanced in several items, such asscholarships programme, academic matters(double degree, credit transfers, bridgingprogrammes for Indonesians, who willattend PhD programme in Taiwan) andresearch collaboration. The last Taiwan –Indonesia Higher Education Summit in Bali

their school. These organisations are affiliated with PPITaiwan.13 One of the example is helping and coordinatingIndonesian students to buy flight ticket to go back toIndonesia,


in 2013 concluded that both sides agree toestablish networks.14

All those abovementioned examplesshow that Indonesian students are quiteactive. Besides studying, the Indonesianstudents’ activities also prove that theymade positive contribution to their fellowIndonesians. These students are concernedon how to make use of their knowledge andliving experience in Taiwan and how thosethings can be applicable in Indonesia.During their interaction with the Taiwanesepeople, they promote Indonesian multi-ethnic culture, Indonesian language,attitudes and values.

As a result, the Taiwanese are betterinformed that Indonesia is not only big interm of size but also its population. Theyknow that Indonesia has many more islandsinstead of Bali, and many ethnic groups.Therefore, Indonesian culture is very rich,in terms of arts, food, outfit, and customs.Some Indonesian students teach Indonesianlanguage (Bahasa Indonesia), formally orinformally, to their friends or theirprofessors. They wear Batik and otherIndonesian traditional outfits in severaloccasions. Gradually, these studentspromote Indonesian language and cultureto the Taiwanese society.

Despite of their good achievements onpromoting Indonesia, these Indonesianstudents have limitations. The first is timeconstraint. As a student, they have toprioritise studying and other related works.

As a result they only have limited timeto do some other things. Secondly is statusconstraint. Most of Indonesian students arescholarship recipients. Therefore, they are

14第2屆臺灣印尼高等教育論壇與臺灣高等教育展成果豐碩(The 2nd Taiwan and Indonesia Higher Education Summitand the Taiwan Higher Education are Fruitful). Retrieved inhttp://www.edu.tw/pages/detail.aspx?Node=1088&Page=21404&wid=409cab38-69fe-4a61-ad3a-5d32a88deb5d&Index=1

not supposed to do other works which arenot related to their study. If they want to doother work, they should meet somerequirements, such as providing a proofthat they are currently not Taiwanscholarships recipients and having a workpermit for foreign students. Based on suchlimitations, these Indonesian students arenot able to allocate their time andcommitment professionally to promoteIndonesian culture within theirenvironments.

At the same time, Indonesian Economicand Trade Office in Taipei (IETO) or KantorDagang and Ekonomi Indonesia di Taipei(KDEI – Taipei), also have limitations topromote Indonesia. IETO/KDEI, which alsobecomes an Indonesian representative officein Taiwan, does not have a special official,who is fully responsible for information andcultural affairs. Therefore they also couldnot do their function completely. From thegovernment side, Indonesia has not beenable to raise its high profile in Taiwan oncultural affairs.

On the Taiwan side, this recentdevelopment on Indonesian students hasnot gained sufficient responds. Indonesiahas being seen as an unattractive object tostudy, comparing to Vietnam, Philippinesor Malaysia. There are still small numbersof research about Indonesia done byTaiwanese scholars, and only fewTaiwanese scholars understand Indonesiaand its complexities.

In Taiwan, there are only twouniversities has a graduate school ofSoutheast Asian Studies , but they dolimited study on Indonesia.15 In otherwords, Indonesia is still a marginalisedstudy object among students and scholars inTaiwan universities.

15 There are two Taiwan universities which has a GraduateSchool of Southeast Asian Studies: National Chi NanUniversity (a state university) and Tamkang University (aprivate university). In Tamkang University, Southeast AsianStudies is a sub-division of the Institute of Asian Studies.


In general, there is still lack ofcomprehensive information aboutIndonesia among Taiwanese, as it isexplained by the Head of Taipei Economicand Trade Office (TETO), AmbassadorAndrew Hsia.16 He explained that only afew Taiwanese knows that Indonesia now isa democratic country with good politicaland social stability. But most of them stilltend to think that Indonesia as a part of BaliIsland and/or as a migrant workersexporting country. This kind of perceptionand their partial understanding madeIndonesia a less important country, inTaiwan, compared to other Southeast Asiancountries.

Furthermore, Taiwan government is stilllack of approach on how to engageIndonesian students, in the professionalway, such as how to make use of thesestudents availability in Taiwan and how toaccommodate their skills, knowledge andexpertise to enrich Taiwaneseunderstanding about Indonesia. Indonesianstudents, like other International studentsare still viewed only as a scholarshiprecipient although some of them have beenworking as a professional in their field. IfTaiwan government is aware of the potencyof Indonesian students, their presence canbe a bridge between Taiwan and Indonesiarelations.

Language barrier probably becomes themain obstacles for the Indonesian studentsto mingle with the locals. Most of themhave limited skills on Chinese language,except the ones, who study Chineselanguage. At the same time, mostTaiwanese people still have strong tendencyto think that all foreigners should haveability to speak and read Chinese, whenthey are in Taiwan. Given the fact that

16 “Taiwan and Indonesia to Enhance Economic Relations”,The President Post, March, 02, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2013from http://www.thepresidentpost.com/2012/03/02/taiwan-and-indonesia-to-enhance-economic-relations/.

Indonesian workers are much more fluentin speaking Chinese and even Taiwanese,this problem may affect the Indonesianstudents’ daily interaction with the localTaiwanese people. As a result, this barriermay affect the students’ efforts to promoteIndonesian culture and to have access to thelocal community to do such things.

Some initiatives to promote people-to-people interaction

However, there are some breakthroughsby some Taiwanese academicians in orderto manage such abovementioned obstacles.Firstly, there are two annual conferenceswhich have a special panel on Indonesiandevelopment. First panel is held in theAnnual Conference of Taiwan Associationof Southeast Asian Studies (TASEAS) at theeach of 2012 and 2013.

The panel, initiated by Prof. Ching-lungTsay from Institute of Asian Studies,Tamkang University, discusses aboutIndonesian development. Second panelabout Indonesia is held in InternationalConference on Asia Pacific Studies (ICAPS)in National Sun Yat Sen University at theeach of 2012 and 2013.17

Several Indonesian young scholars wereinvited to join those panels, which areaimed to promote Indonesia as one ofappealing object to study and to buildcollaboration between Taiwanese andIndonesian scholars.

Secondly, since September 2013,Institute of Asian Studies, TamkangUniversity offers a course, “The Rise ofIndonesian Economy and its implicationsfor Taiwan and Japan.” The main idea ofthis course is to the study the Master PlanPercepatan, Perluasan, dan Pembangunan

17 For information about International Conference on AsiaPacific Studies, 2012 and 2013, in National Sun Yat SenUniversity, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, can be seen inhttp://icaps.nsysu.edu.tw/files/11-1122-7648.php


Ekonomi Indonesia or MP3EI (the MasterPlan for the Acceleration and Expansion ofEconomic Development of Indonesia) andthe rise of Indonesian Economy and howthese phenomenon implies Taiwan andJapan. Initiated by Prof. Ching-lung Tsay(Institute of Asian Studies, TamkangUniversity), this is the first formalintellectual forum in Taiwan for expertlecturing, class discussions and professionalinteractions among Taiwanese andIndonesian specialists on specific issues ofIndonesian economic development.

Taiwanese and Indonesian studentstook this course. They are taught by ProfChing-lung Tsay and other Taiwanesesenior and junior scholars, and someIndonesian experts. The two panels inTASEAS and this course are under theProgram Collaboration between Indonesiaand Taiwan (The CINTA Program). Thisinitiative is also aimed to promote mutualinteraction among scholars andprofessionals from Taiwan and Indonesia.

Those above-mentioned case studiesshowed that each side works step by step touse soft power to establish epistemiccommunity for Indonesian studies.However, it will be much better if suchactivities done by Indonesian andTaiwanese scholars received proportionalattention from the Taiwan side. Establishinga so-called a counterpart from the Taiwanside, to accommodate will be a good step.

This counterpart can be in the form offorum or association, who works onIndonesian issues. Any Taiwanese, eitherthey are students, academician,businessmen, artists, or ordinary people,which have any interests about Indonesiaand Indonesia – Taiwan relations, can jointhis forum or association. They can sharetheir knowledge and experience each other.This forum or association would be thebridge between Indonesia and Taiwan andsupport Indonesian – Taiwan relations.

Refers to the previous explanation aboutepistemic community and second trackdiplomacy, this ‘counterpart forum orassociation’ can support the currentactivities of 2nd track dialogue and epistemiccommunity between Indonesian andTaiwan, if any.

Since epistemic community and 2nd

track dialogue usually has privileges to thegovernment access, the ‘counterpart forumor association’ can be invited to be involvedin the decision making policy. It is expectedthat their contribution can improveIndonesia – Taiwan bilateral relations.

ConclusionGiving the lack of diplomatic relations

between Indonesia and Taiwan, bothcountries should be creative to minimizethis gap. People-to-people interaction is thesuitable way to bridge Indonesia – Taiwanrelations. In this case, the state actors onboth sides have some limitations to do thefunction as normal bilateral relationsalways work.

Therefore, state actors should givesignificant support to people-to-peopleinteraction and facilitate them. Indonesiashould assign an official who is fully incharge on culture and education affairs inIETO/KDEI, to help Indonesian studentsand scholars efforts to have interaction withtheir Taiwanese counterparts, and toestablish an epistemic community betweenboth countries. Taiwan government isstrongly suggested to do similar one.

Furthermore, Indonesian students arepotential to bridge Indonesia - Taiwanrelations. Although their number is muchsmaller than Indonesian workers18, they arepotential to help raising Indonesian softpower. Education became a media to share

18 The number of Indonesian workers in Taiwan reached205.213 (2013). These workers mostly work as a caregiversand fishermen. It made Indonesia as the biggest SoutheastAsian migrant sending country in Taiwan (44% among totalnumber of Southeast Asian migrant workers in Taiwan).


and exchange their knowledge, skills andexperience with the Taiwanese local peoplein their school and place to stay, and tomingle with them.

Although, it has not gained enoughresponse from Taiwanese society,Indonesian students send a message toTaiwanese society about their positiveachievements and help Taiwanese society tounderstand more about Indonesia and thediversity of Southeast Asia. Theseinteractions rely on the students’ self-potential and it creates an opportunity toexpand the networking among them.

These are useful for the students will bethe professionals in their own fields andbecome the future leaders of Indonesia. Thiskind of interaction is less politicallyconstrained then it should be moreenhanced.

In sum, Indonesia and Taiwan stillneeds to work hard to maximise theirbilateral interaction. The good strategy andcollaboration between state and non-stateactors in both sides still needs to beimproved.

Here the ‘counterpart forum orassociation’ is significant to bridge thelimitations of bilateral interaction betweenboth states, especially to eliminate theunclear perceptions among Taiwanese toIndonesia, which might affect Indonesia –Taiwan bilateral relations, and to promoteIndonesia in the better outlook.

About the Author

Paramitaningrum is a PhD Candidate at theGraduate Institute of European Studies,Tamkang University, Tamsui, Taiwan. She isone of the recipients of the Taiwan Scholarshipsfrom Taiwan Ministry of Education in 2008. Shecan be contacted at [email protected].

References

Acharya, A. (2011). Engagement orEntrapment? Scholarship and Policymakingon Asian Regionalism. International StudiesReview, 13: 12-17

CIA the World Fact book (July 2013).Retrieved in February 11, 2014 fromhttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/id.html

Haas, P.(1992). Epistemic Communitiesand International Policy Coordination,International Organization, 46: 3

Josselin, D & Wallace, W. (eds.). (2001).Non-State in World Politics, Hampshire:Palgrave. p.3-4

Ku, Samuel C.Y. (1998). Taiwan’sDiplomatic Maneuvers in the Asia Pacific: Aperspective of Complex Interdependence,Issues and Studies 34 (6) 80-97

Mazzarol, Tim & Geoffrey N. Soutar.(2002). “Push-pull” factors internationalstudent destination choice, The InternationalJournal of Educational Management, 16 (2): 82-90

Joseph S. Nye, Jr. (2004). Soft Power: TheMeans to success in World Politics, New York:Public Affairs.

Kaye, Dalia Dassa. (2007). Talking to theEnemy: Track Two Diplomacy in the MiddleEast and South Asia. Arlington. VA: RANDCorporation.

Papp, Daniel S. (1988). ContemporaryInternational Relations: Framework forUnderstanding, 2nd Edition. London:Macmillan Publishing Company. P. 93-95

Sukma, Rizal. (2011). Soft Power andPublic Diplomacy: The Case of Indonesia. in

Jan Melissen and Sook Jong Lee (eds),Public Diplomacy and Soft Power in East Asia,New York: Palgrave-Macmillan.

Wanandi, Jusuf. (1995). The RegionalRole of “Track Two” Diplomacy: ASEAN,ARF, and CSCAP, Japan Review ofInternational Affairs, 9: 155-168

“Non-State Actors: Impact onInternational Relations and Implications for


the United States,” accessed athttp://www.fas.org/irp/nic/nonstate_actors_2007.pdf

CIA the World Fact book (July 2013),retrieved inhttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/id.html

Indonesia's Economic Growth Slows,The Wall Street Journal, February 5, 2013,accessed inhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324445904578285081322220700.html

“The Archipelago economy: UnleashingIndonesia’s potential,” September 2012,Retrieved in October 1st, 2012 inhttp://www.mckinsey.com/insights/asia-pacific/the_archipelago_economy

http://portal.tecindonesia.com/?page_id=13&lang=en in February 14th 2014.

2013印尼臺灣高等教育展圓滿落幕(2013 Indonesia and Taiwan Higher

Education Fair was over succesfully).Retrieved November, 27, 2013 fromhttp://www.oia.ntust.edu.tw/files/14-1017-38060,r553-1.php第2屆臺灣印尼高等教育論壇與臺灣高等

教育展成果豐碩 (The 2nd Taiwan andIndonesia Higher Education Summit andthe Taiwan Higher Education are Fruitful).Retrieved November 27, 2013 fromhttp://www.edu.tw/pages/detail.aspx?Node=1088&Page=21404&wid=409cab38-69fe-4a61-ad3a-5d32a88deb5d&Index=1

“Taiwan and Indonesia to EnhanceEconomic Relations”, The President Post,March, 02, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2013fromhttp://www.thepresidentpost.com/2012/03/02/taiwan-and-indonesia-to-enhance-economic-relations/.

http://formmit.org/main-menu/about-formmit.html

http://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?v=21&t=20

http://perpita.freeinterchange.org/zh_tw/about1-02.htm

http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD

Documents

Enhancing People-to-People Cooperation between ASEAN and East Asia Countries through Counterparts: The Case of Indonesian Students in Taiwan