CONSTRUCTING A CHINA METAPHOR - SUKARNOS PERCEPTION OF THE PRC AND INDONESIA POLITICAL TRANSFORMATION

Throughout Sukarno's long and colourful political career, China consti tuted one of the central objects in his construction of the outside wo rld. What did the PRC stand for in his intellectual and political imag ination? How relevant was Sukarno's China perception to the evolution of his own socio-political thought? This paper suggests that Sukarno's favourable view of the PRC reflected more of his predispositions abou t Indonesia than it did Chinese realities. China as seen through Sukar no's eyes became the point of reference for both intellectual judgemen t and political thinking. Furthermore, Sukarno employed his perception of China as a cultural metaphor, social symbol, and political model i n his drive to establish and consolidate the Guided Democracy regime.