As the United States and China fight for influence in Southeast Asia, with battles over everything from 5G technology to freedom of navigation in the South China Sea , Indonesia is attempting a balancing act by refusing to choose sides. Jakarta will not play favourites, the country’s former foreign minister Marty Natalegawa told This Week In Asia , and will continue to maintain close ties with both the US and China even as the latter’s economic importance expands in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. “Indonesia is not unique in the sense of having very close and substantive economic relations with China but at the same time having friendly relations, not only economic but also political, security relations with United States,” Natalegawa said on the sidelines of the 33rd Asia-Pacific Roundtable in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur. “Over the years we have managed to manage this reality in a good way, making sure this can go hand in hand, it’s not like an either/or [scenario].” Natalegawa served as Indonesia’s foreign minister from 2009 to 2014 and is currently a member of the UN Secretary-General’s High Level Advisory Board on Mediation, among other things. China has been Indonesia’s largest trading partner since 2017, when it leapfrogged the US. Last year, Indonesia’s trade with China totalled US$72.66 billion. China is also one of the biggest foreign investors in Indonesia, spending some US$2.37 billion in 2018 to finance 1,562 projects. Being the largest economy in Southeast Asia with a strategic location, Indonesia has become a priority in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative to link economies into a China-centred trading network. But Jakarta’s ties with Washington remain important – it is a major ally in countering extremism and military links between the two are improving, with acting US Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan meeting his Indonesian counterpart last month to discuss cooperation. Indonesia’s current ties with US are being shaped by a growing economic nationalism, which has seen US mining giant Freeport McMoRan hand over majority control of the copper and gold mine it operates in Papua province to a local state-owned firm – the country’s biggest ever divestment by a foreign resources company. Overseas Chinese workers: what’s driving Indonesian paranoia? Indonesia is also pushing to nationalise more of its oil and gas assets as it tries to reduce imports and increase government revenues. In 2021, state-owned Pertamina is set to take over operation of the Rokan oil block, the country’s second-largest crude producing field, from current US operator Chevron. Meanwhile, Natalegawa said he expects Indonesia to continue its robust relationship with China in the second and final term of President Joko Widodo . The former foreign minister said he believes that both world powers understand that Indonesia has a long-standing tradition of maintaining friendly relations with all sides. “China is a fact of life. Its economy is thriving, it is a major economy globally,” he said. “The narrative we have to build is that … having a healthy, robust relationship with China doesn’t mean one loses one’s sense of independence and friendship with other countries.” In trade war, Indonesia looks like a loser. But it could be a winner Anti-China bias has long dogged Indonesia’s relations with its massive neighbour to the north. In 2017, Jakarta’s former governor, a Christian of Chinese descent, was drummed out of office in an election that turned on religion and race . Widodo has also been the victim of smear campaigns alleging his grandfather was Chinese and the president is communist. Among the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations , Cambodia and Laos are seen as being more China-friendly than Indonesia and Malaysia is pulling closer, despite Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad suspending several huge China-backed projects after his shock election victory last year. Singapore, like Indonesia, is a traditional ally of the US but is also working to build ties with China. For his part, Natalegawa said that he believes Asean can prosper and “live in the space” created by the US and China’s “ competitive rivalry ”. Connect with us on Twitter and Facebook