JAKARTA — Red cranes hover over the vast skeleton of a 660 megawatt coal-fired power plant under construction on the dusty coast of western Java, Indonesia. The US$1 billion (S$1.38 billion) facility, majority-owned by Malaysia’s Genting Group, is set to be finished ahead of schedule next year...

A competition has been sparked between two Asian giants as Japan and China both attempt to court Indonesia in an effort to boost their influence in the region. Like a chess player, Japan appears to mirror any move made by China.

The Central Java administration should address seriously the defrauding of two South Korean investors intending to set up garment and shoe factories in the province, otherwise its campaign to woo labor-intensive industries away from Jakarta and West Java, where minimum wages have risen...