OPINION

Indonesia refuses to be railroaded into China deal

News, Adam Minter, Published on 10/09/2015

» It was a deal that a developing nation such as Indonesia wasn't supposed to refuse. In return for a $5.5 billion (199 billion baht) Chinese loan to be repaid over 50 years, Indonesia would receive its first high-speed rail line, a 150-kilometre high-tech bauble to run from the capital, Jakarta, to the country's third-largest city, Bandung. But late last week, President Joko Widodo's government did the unexpected and refused it -- and a less-attractive Japanese proposal -- in favour of soliciting bids to build a slower train that will cost about 40% less. According to Bloomberg News, the high-speed line was not considered "commercially viable".