TAIPEI, TAIWAN: Indonesia and China said Monday they committed to maritime cooperation promoting safety and security in the South China Sea, amid longstanding Indonesian suspicions about China’s actions in waters controlled by Jakarta.
The sides agreed to cooperate in infrastructure building, minerals development and joint security, the last being the most significant because of Indonesia’s concerns over Chinese development near the Natuna island group in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety.
While neither side mentioned the islands directly, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said the officials agreed to further enhance their security cooperation in a comprehensive and sustainable way.
“We will enhance law enforcement and security cooperation to jointly combat transnational (inaudible) cooperation,” Wang said following the first joint meeting of foreign and defense ministers from the two sides in Beijing.
“We agreed that safeguarding peace and stability in the South China Sea is in line with the interests of all parties, and we will set up an example in maritime cooperation,” Wang said, adding that the coast guards signed a memorandum of understanding on maritime security and safety.
Indonesia borders the strategic waterway through which an estimated $5 trillion in world trade passes annually, but it is not formally one of the six parties that share overlapping sovereign maritime claims with China. Such disputes have raised fears of a larger conflict that could put China and the US on a collision course.
Despite that, China’s southernmost territorial claim lies within Indonesia’s 370-kilometer (200-nautical-mile) exclusive economic zone, and Indonesian security patrols routinely drive off or seize Chinese fishing boats, fueling tensions between the countries. Meanwhile, officials in Jakarta are mulling over Beijing’s plans for the Natuna island chain, part of which lies inside China’s “nine-dash line,” which it uses to roughly demarcate its claim to most of the South China Sea.
Chinese coast guard ships have escorted fishing vessels – some of which have been confronted by the Indonesian coast guard – while Indonesia has increased the number of patrols and size of garrisons on the hundreds of scattered islands.
Last year, during a state visit by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, the sides pledged to “joint maritime development” in the area, while having no effect on sovereignty claims, seemingly calming the situation somewhat.
While that appeared to apply mainly to economic opportunities, Chinese defense minister Adm. Dong Jun on Monday said the sides had also agreed to boost communication and stage joint counter-terrorism exercises later this year.
The South China Sea, especially its parts lying close to Indonesia, has at times become notorious for piracy in which ships are repainted, renamed and have their electronic identities altered in the countless ports and islands in the archipelago.
Indonesian foreign minister Sugiono and defense minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin largely echoed the Chinese sides’ comments, underscoring their joint desire to smooth over economic and security divisions.
“We also agreed to stand united against terrorism, violent extremism and cyberthreats and we shared concerns over the threat of transnational crime in the region which increasingly targets our nationals,” said Sugiono, who like many Indonesians uses just one name.
Indonesia is also in the process of establishing a consulate in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu, which has close relations with Southeast Asia, Sugiono said.
Indonesia’s economic ties with China have flourished in recent years. China became Indonesia’s largest trading partner and plowed billions into major infrastructure projects such as the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway and Cirata, Southeast Asia’s largest floating solar power project, on a reservoir in West Java, 130 kilometers (80 miles) from the capital, Jakarta.
Disagreements have emerged over the pricing and timing for the projects, but China has been determined to follow through on them in keeping with President Xi Jinping’s signature “Belt and Road” initiative to build infrastructure throughout the region.
China’s strategy in the South China Sea has been to deal with each claim on an individual basis while avoiding facing a united front, as well as going back on pledges such as not to militarize human-made islands in the area it controls.
