Revolution and recognition in post-war Asia: restoring missing links in the establishment of Indonesia–people’s republic of China relations, 1949–1950

Abstract

This article sheds importantnew light on the early trajectory of contemporary Indonesia-People’sRepublic of China (PRC) ties. Drawingon an extensive range of hitherto unexplored archives, it unpacks the processesand policies that prompted the newly independent Indonesian state in thespring of 1950, to recognise and establish direct relations with the PRC, thereby supplanting the former link betweenthe Dutch colonial government and the Chinese Nationalist regime at Taiwan. Itis argued that, contrary to prevailing understandings and Cold War logic, theNetherlands played a pivotal role in pushing Indonesia-PRC ties forward, while bothJakarta and Beijing temporised. In setting out this claim, the article contributesto the existing literature in two ways. First, it offers a significant correctiveto established and recent scholarship on the foreign policy of early post-revolutionaryIndonesia. Second, it provides fresh insights into the effects of the Cold Waron Western imperialism in Asia and into the contested historical legacies that informcontemporary relations within the region to this day.