Paper short abstract:

Being a great economic power, Japan is expected to use its ODA to alleviate global poverty and promote liberal principles. Despite human rights violations in Indonesia, Japan has maintained a neutral stance towards the country, and continues to do so as the strategic importance of Indonesia grows.

Paper long abstract:

For the energy-scarce Japan, Indonesia has traditionally been an economically and strategically important country. The need to secure an access to natural resources was the reason why Japan occupied Indonesia in the Pacific War (1942-1945). After the war, Indonesia remained important for Japan and consequently became the main target of Japanese ODA and investments in Asia. Moreover, in addition to its valuable natural resources, Indonesia was important for Japanese building companies as well, which were strongly profiting from the demands of the country's economic infrastructure.

Japan's strategic interests in Indonesia further grew after the Cold War and as new security challenges emerged, including piracy, terrorism and, recently, the territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea. At the same time, Japan's first ODA Charter in 1992 declared that the country is to be a more responsible ODA donor in the future. The Charter indicated a greater engagement in creating a UN-centric world order after the end of the East-West conflict, while committing the country to contributing to the eradication of poverty more actively and to promoting international liberal principles, including freedom, democracy and basic human rights. The position of the Charter was reaffirmed by Abe administration in its Factsheet on Japan-ASEAN relations—"Five Principles of Japan's ASEAN Diplomacy" in 2013.

However, the multifaceted national interest of Japan was at odds with its pledge to contribute to the promotion of liberal principles in Indonesia. Being a young democratic society, the country's political reality continued to include the problems of corruption and violations of human rights. According to the report of Amnesty International, the Indonesian government continues to use excessive force against the opposition and minorities.

This paper analyses Japan's ODA strategy towards Indonesia while arguing that Japan was never willing to publicly criticize Indonesia for its human-rights valuations despite its repeated promise to put more weight on liberal principles.