China or Japan: Indonesia mulls Jakarta-Surabaya railway plans

In this photo taken on Aug 13, 2015, Indonesian models look at scale models of Chinese-made bullet trains on exhibition at a shopping mall in Jakarta. - AFP

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): Indonesia’s plan to invite China to submit a proposal for the Jakarta-Surabaya railway project has caught some by surprise, as the project appeared to be earmarked for Japan.

Questions emerged when Coordinating Economics Minister Airlangga Hartarto announced in May 2020 that the government had decided to extend the China-backed Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project to Surabaya in East Java, along a route similar to one Japan had begun studying in 2018.