Did Prabowo Just Yield To China In The North Natuna Sea?
Date
11/11/2024 5:06:11 AM
(MENAFN- Asia Times)
JAKARTA – President Prabowo Subianto has dazed and confused many foreign policy observers with an apparent dramatic shift in Indonesia's South China Sea policy while in Beijing.
Indonesia Foreign Ministry officials were caught off guard, if not shocked, after an official statement released on the final day of Prabowo's trip appeared to recognize China's expansive“nine-dash line” claim to most of the South China Sea, including part of Indonesia's exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The announcement's language was ambiguous so the practical implications remain unclear. The foreign ministry quickly released a clarifying statement rejecting any suggestion that Indonesia now recognizes China's preferred map.
This, plus earlier signals Indonesia might be taking a tougher line on defending its maritime territory, has left many observers scratching their heads.
Was this a simple slapdash slip by a president determined to take the lead on foreign policy ahead of diplomatic bureaucrats? Or does it hint Prabowo is initiating a shift in Indonesia's geopolitical positioning toward China?
Long-running dispute At the heart of the controversy is a phrase in a joint statement released by China referring to a“common understanding on joint development in areas of overlapping claims” with regard to maritime issues. This anodyne phrase carries potentially major implications.
China has long made expansive territorial claims to waters in the South China Sea that overlap with the territorial claims of several Southeast Asian nations. For Indonesia, the area of contention is in the North Natuna Sea, which China claims a slice of despite being in Indonesia's EEZ.
Indonesia has not only always resolutely rejected this claim, but taken the unmovable position that there's nothing to discuss since China's claims have no basis in international law.
This is backed up by a 2016 ruling the United Nation's Permanent Court of Arbitration based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Even Chinese overtures to begin discussions on the issue have been roundly rejected by Jakarta as a non-starter.
By putting his name to an official statement accepting the premise of“overlapping claims”, Prabowo seemed to accept that China has legitimate territorial claims in the North Natuna Sea, which if so would represent a major shift in Indonesian policy.
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