For the first issue of Carnegie China’s "China through a SEA Lens" series, scholars from 7 Southeast Asian countries were invited to discuss how effective Chinese president Xi Jinping’s diplomacy has been at improving China’s relations with their countries. They were asked to choose one among the five levels: very positive, positive, neutral, negative, or very negative. The full results are available here . From Indonesian perspective, Christine Susanna Tjhin, Director of Strategic Research at the Gentala Institute explained: The general trend of bilateral relations has progressed, despite the pandemic-related slowdown. Similar to his predecessors, Indonesian President Joko Widodo has practiced a China policy focused heavily on economics. Although the bilateral trade deficit is often criticized , it is decreasing, and China (along with the United States and India) remains equally important contributors to Indonesia’s exports and overall trade surplus. From the early stages of...