The Indonesian air force deployed four fighter jets to the South China Sea on Tuesday in a stand-off that has soured Jakarta’s generally friendly ties with Beijing, its biggest trading partner and a major investor.
The developments bear watching, not only because they have the potential of disrupting peace and stability in the South China Sea, a crucial global trade route, but also because they have some bearing on the way we have been dealing our giant neighbor to the north.
Indonesia, the fourth most populous country in the world, has already mobilized fishermen to join warships in the South China Sea to help defend against Chinese vessels, the government said on Monday, as the biggest stand-off with China for years escalated.
Last week, Jakarta said it was sending four more warships to the area to join the six Indonesian ships that were already there.
“There is no negotiation when it comes to our sovereignty,” said President Joko Widodo in an unusually strong statement.
China claims much of the South China Sea, home to rich fishing grounds and energy reserves, but Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines say such claims have no legal basis. In 2016, the Philippines won a landmark decision from the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that upheld Manila’s rights over its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea. Beijing, however, has refused to recognize the authority of the UN tribunal and its fishing vessels and coast guard ships regularly enter Philippine waters.
China’s stand-off with Indonesia began in mid-December when a Chinese coast guard vessel, accompanying Chinese fishing boats, entered waters off the coast of Indonesia's northern Natuna islands, prompting Jakarta to summon Beijing's ambassador.
On Monday, Indonesia's chief security minister said about 120 fishermen from the island of Java would be sent to the Natuna islands, some 1,000 kilometers to the north.
"We want to mobilize our fishermen from the north coast and maybe in turn from other areas to operate by fishing there,” the minister, Mahud MD, said.
Instead of its usual bellicose warnings, China’s response seemed measured.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Tuesday that Beijing had "opened diplomatic channels" with Indonesia since the latest incident, and said "both countries shoulder responsibility for maintaining regional peace and stability."
How matters progress from here could prove instructive for the Philippines, which has had its fair share of run-ins with the Chinese in the South China Sea. Should we continue appeasing the Chinese, as we have done, or should we learn—and perhaps cooperate—with the Indonesians to protect our sovereign rights?