For decades, Indonesia enjoyed a simple economic relationship with Japan. The poor, resource-rich country exchanged oil, gas and other commodities for cash, while fuelling the advanced manufacturing sector of its wealthy Asian neighbour. A rush by Japanese investors into Indonesia’s fast-growing domestic electricity market is, however, altering the formula, helping to secure Indonesia’s emergence as an economic power in its own right.

JAKARTA - The vaunted Reformasi era of democratic change in Indonesia is coming to a dead end under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's leadership, if his candidate for police chief is any indication, activists say. Some are already drafting obituaries for the spirit of openness and liberal reform that energised the country of 240 million people in the years after the resignation of the dictator Suharto in 1998.