DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2020.v08i12.004

Pages: 586-593

Global politics has transformed its polarity and distribution of power in the past two decades. The significant increase in China's military and economic capabilities displaced the United States from a prominent actor in international relations, especially in the Asia Pacific region. Countries view that initiating and strengthening cooperation in various fields with China promises hope for its national development amidst the strategic challenges of today's contemporary era. Indonesia, a new middle power that continues to grow, is trying to shift the negative sentiment of China in the New Order era by exploring comprehensive partnerships that have proven successful in the fields of economy and connectivity. The expansion of cooperation to the defense sector is then initiated and implemented in order to follow up on transnational issues that have the potential to disrupt the intensive cooperative relationship that is already taking place between the two parties. This study analyzes the realization of Indonesia's defense diplomacy, which is carried out to increase Indonesia-China defense cooperation. In the framework of qualitative methods, researchers contest the current reality of Indonesia-China defense cooperation with the concept of national interests, the concept of security dilemmas, and the theory of defense diplomacy. This research then finds that Indonesia has not received valuable benefits from defense cooperation with China to fulfill Indonesia's national interests in terms of maintaining sovereignty and territorial integrity.