ABSTRACT
Chinas contemporary) trans-regional initiative. to establish the. Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) -previously known as One Beit One Road (OBOR) -has attracted a lot of attention; not only because the initiative involves more than 60 countries across Asia, Africa and south Europe, but also because it represents a re-emerging China that is being considered a challenger to the post-second World War liberal world order led by the United States. The initiative has also been perceived JS a Chinese strategy to enhance its influence beyond its traditional reaim by tJking advantage of its economic prowess. Indonesia was among the first countries introduced to the OBOR and whose territory is at the heart of the OBOR route. The country, however, has been prudent in the face of Chinese offers since it has perceived the initiative as both an opportunity and challenge in economic as well as strategic dimensions. In addition, the Chinese BRI grand initic1tive may create regional pro­blems due to hotspots in the South China Sea and the inclination of some regional states to support China rather than strengthen the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Thus, while it is important to weicome the initiative, critical assessments of the project are indeed necessary in order to understand its impact on the geo-economy and geo-politics of involved regions cind on future relations between the involved countries and China.