Thread by @olliekarp

In today's #dailysoup, I'll introduce an Indonesian former soldier x current Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan (@luhut_binsar).

He's known for his political controversies, particularly his pro-China x some pro-Russia stints.

1/23

After becoming an activist during the rule of Soekarno, Luhut became an Indonesian soldier in the 1960s, participating in Jakarta's invasions of East Timor after its independence from Portugal.

Then, Luhut joined the Kopassus while being trained by Prabowo Subianto.

2/23

However, in 1983, Prabowo suspected that Benny Moerdani and other Indonesian generals were planning to overthrow Soeharto.

A rift formed between Prabowo and Luhut when he suspected that Luhut may be one of the coup plotters called "Benny's men".

3/23

After the fall of Soeharto, Luhut served a few political positions, including as Indonesia's ambassador to Singapore and as a Minister of Trade and Industry during the late 1990s x early 2000s.

Then, he served as a deputy chairman of right-wing Indonesian party, Golkar.

4/23

Starting from a business venture with Jokowi Widodo's company, PT Rakabu, Luhut started forming a close relationship with Jokowi, especially when Luhut's connections with a Golkar member raised Jokowi's leverage for the 2019 Indonesian elections.

5/23

From 2015-16, Luhut served as a Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs during the first years of the Jokowi administration. Since 2016, Luhut is serving as the Coordinating Minister of Maritime and Investment Affairs.

6/23

In May 2017, Luhut was one of the Indonesian politicians who accompanied Jokowi to sign an agreement with Xi Jinping and other CCP honchos subscribing Indonesia into BRI projects.

7/23

Then, Jokowi assigned Luhut to manage and attract Chinese investment into Indonesia through his Global Maritime Fulcrum Task Force, in which he once said to Chinese investors "If there are investment problems in Indonesia, please don't hesitate to contact me".

8/23

Moreover, in another BRI meeting between Jakarta and Beijing, Luhut offered around 28 BRI projects with China, with the total being $91.1B.

I will dig deeper into these BRI projects in future entries.

9/23

One BRI project handled by Luhut includes the Bitung Special Economic Zone at northern Sulawesi, comprising of a series of transpo infrastructure, airports, ports, and industrial districts.

10/23

However, the project faces financing x land acquisition issues. Also, one of its developers is the CCCC, a shady CCP-owned company notorious for supporting China's illegal SCS claims through building illegal artificial islands in the SCS.

11/23

Besides a special economic zone in Sumatera, Luhut also handles another BRI project called the Jakarta-Bandung railway. Its main developer is a Sino-Indonesian JV, the KCIC.

One of KCIC's firms, China Railway Corporation, is currently sanctioned for links to the PLA.

12/23

Moreover, the Jakarta-Bandung railway faces problems typical of a BRI project, including financial and safety problems, as well as the problem of "is the project needed or not?".

13/23

During his current tenure as Coordinating Minister of Maritime and Investment Affairs, Luhut attended high-level meetings with CCP honchos, peepotalking about something along the lines of "Sino-Indonesian cooperation under the context of the BRI".

14/23

However, as Chinese investments increased in Indonesia during the late 2010s, Rizal Ramli, an Indonesian politician critical of Jokowi, expressed concerns that Indonesia is "becoming more inclined towards China", fearing that Jakarta would experience its Hambantota moment.

15/23

In the late 2010s, the influx of mainland Chinese workers to Indonesia was met with negative reception from locals, accompanied by rumours of "police from China present in the 2019 post-election riots". Luhut commented something like "they are just essential and harmless".

16/23

During the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, 500 mainland Chinese workers arrived in the country, sparking local backlash.

Luhut tried to defend the "Chinese workers bypassing visa x quarantine to enter Indonesia" by peepotalking about "their importance to the economy".

17/23

Then, Luhut tried to defend his "pivot to China" through engaging in pro-China peepotalking.

For example, during a 2020 virtual meeting with Indonesian millennials, Luhut said something like "China is a world power, whether you like it or not". When he was asked...

18/23

...about the inflow of mainland Chinese workers to Indonesia, Luhut commented "So we should not be hostile to one country, and there is no reason for us to become enemies".

Meanwhile, amidst Sino-Indonesian tensions over the Natuna Sea, Luhut commented...

19/23

...something like "there is no need to make a fuss about the Natuna Sea dispute" and "the Natuna Sea dispute is not about sovereignty, but it's just about the economy".

In reality, the Natuna Sea dispute is about both sovereignty and economy, especially...

20/23

...cuz Natuna Sea is located in Indonesian maritime territory and the SCS has lots of vital resources.

Besides pro-China stints, Luhut is also involved in some pro-Russia ones. Five months after 02/24, Luhut blamed Ukraine for the "drop in global fruit prices".

21/23

During the G-20 Summit in Indonesia, Luhut commented that "Putin decided not to come cuz he's busy at home, and we also have to respect that".

Luhut, as the chief of support of G-20 events, allowed Sergey Lavrov to represent Russia in the G-20 summit on Putin's behalf.

22/23

Meanwhile, Luhut also got involved in other controversies, including a conflict-of-interest issue involving Luhut's affiliation with an EV company, as well as his name being included in the Panama Papers, listed as the director of some Seychelles-based offshore.

23/23

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Related entries:
Prabowo Subianto - https://t.co/RCa9NPqSwM

Belt and Road initiative - https://t.co/wTjFYUHdcq

Similar entries:
Bob Carr - https://t.co/pefm9kNPV0buymeacoffee.com/olliekarp

https://twitter.com/olliekarp/status/1665101206421741569?s=20

https://twitter.com/olliekarp/status/1652398339160440833?s=20

https://twitter.com/olliekarp/status/1637185997728362496?s=20

Shoutouts:
@P_Kallioniemi, @Aaron_MatthewIL, @FMangosingINQ, @LukeShiga, @outlierplanet, @HaykalV2

This is Phase 1, Entry #77 of the #dailysoup. Feel free to read the previous entries here 👇
bit.ly/thedailysoup

Correction to Tweet 4/23: Then, he served as a deputy chairman of a major Indonesian party named Golkar.

@luhut_binsar @threadreaderapp unroll