Long Yan
On May 26, Indonesia wrote a letter to the United Nations Secretary -General, stating that the nine -segment line proposed by China claims that the lack of international law basis and violate the United Nations Convention on Marine Law.Indonesia also repeats the 2016 China -Philippine South China Sea arbitration case, saying that China has no legal basis for sovereignty's sovereignty in the South China Sea, and these have been confirmed by the arbitration ruling.Indonesia emphasizes its own compliance with international law and announced that it is not restricted by any claims that violate the global legal agreement.
The United Nations of Indonesia has made many people Narry.Because of other Southeast Asian countries, Indonesia's sovereign lies in the southern China Sea have always been more subtle, and they have made clear opposition to China ’s fishing ground development behavior in the northern part of the northern northern part of the north.In fact, Indonesia is not the protagonist of the sovereignty dispute in the South China Sea.
First, it is related to its special geographical location.Indonesia is located in the southeast of the main dispute areas of the South China Sea. It is separated from Malaysia and Brunei between the South China Sea.Compared with fewer countries, it is determined that it cannot be the core of the sovereignty dispute in the South China Sea territorial land.
Second, China has never officially proposed the territorial sovereignty of the Naita Islands.There are overlapping.A spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also repeatedly emphasized that there is no dispute between territorial sovereignty between China and India, and the two sides only have differences in the proposition of marine rights and interests in some seas of the South China Sea.Therefore, the sea power dispute between the two countries has always been in the subtle stage that has not yet reached the heat.
Third, there are inseparable common interests between China and India.The large -scale infrastructure construction projects invested by China have brought huge economic benefits to Indonesia.As the third largest source of foreign investment in Indonesia, in the first half of 2019, China directly invested US $ 2.29 billion in Indonesia, close to the full year of 2018.At the same time, Indonesia has gradually become an important partner for China's promotion of the Belt and Road strategy and global marine fulcrum construction.In April 2019, during the 2nd Belt and Road International Cooperation Summit Forum, China and India signed important documents such as regional comprehensive economic corridors construction cooperation planning, which showed that the relationship between the two countries continued to increase to a new height, and the harmonious atmosphere was bullish.
It is true that in the context of such international relations, Indonesia's sudden attack is indeed a bit elusive.But quietly, the behavior of this time is not unaccompressed.The reason is roughly summarized as the following three points:
First, China -India's marine rights and interest disputes in the waters of the North Nada have never diminished.Regarding the problem of overlap in the sea in the waters, the Indonesian Navy had intervened several times to drive the Chinese fishing vessels escorted by the Chinese Coast Guard and the Navy.In January of this year, the two sides had confronted China on the problem of protecting fishing in North Northern Northern Tu.
At that time, Indonesia proposed a strong diplomatic protest to China. President Zoko also met with members of the Northern Navy and Coast Guard in the northern north, and asked them to strengthen the patrol of the sea area.Zoko has repeatedly stated in public that China's investment and sovereignty defending cannot be the same. There is no room for negotiation when it involves sovereignty.These actions all reflect the serious attitude of Indonesia's sovereignty in the exclusive economic zone of Beneuna.
Second, the dual pressure of the crown disease and the tight situation of the South China Sea increased Indonesia's insecurity.First of all, in a state of the global spread of the epidemic, various economies in Southeast Asia have suffered an unprecedented economic impact. Many countries have to have to reduce the fiscal vacancies by cutting national defense expenses.At present, Indonesia has announced that it will reduce nearly $ 588 million in defense budgets in 2020.The decrease in national defense expenditure means that the number of patrols at sea will inevitably decrease and increase Indonesia's sense of insecurity in the maintenance of sea rights.
In addition, the conflict between China, Vietnam, the Philippines and other countries in the South China Sea's sovereignty has continued and tight, coupled with the recent frequent free sailing operations in the South China Sea, and the strong advocacy of China's threatThe situation of the sea is even more weird.As one of the Southeast Asian countries with the dispute with China ’s sea’ s rights and interests in China, Indonesia must not be alone and maintain the attitude of watching the fire from the shore.Therefore, Indonesia is eager to reiterate the attitude and increase its sense of existence in sovereignty in the South China Sea.
Third, the foreign economy assistance adds confidence to the sea power of China in South Indonesia.At present, Indonesia is striving to continue to increase its investment in the Naita Islands and actively persuade the United States to join, all of which have received positive responses.As the Indonesian Marine Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut said in January this year, Japan plans to increase its investment in the Naita Islands. The United States also intends to cooperate with Japan to assist Indonesia to promote the development of the Naita Islands.
Economic exchanges with major countries such as the United States and Japan, especially the investment in the controversial sea area of the Naita Islands, reduced Indonesia's concerns with China and must maintain friendly concerns with China, which greatly increased Indonesia's power morale.
China and India's restoration of diplomatic relations have passed 30 years.During this period, the political, economic, and cultural exchanges between the two countries became more and more frequent, and the breadth and depth of bilateral cooperation continued to increase.Nowadays, the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative is in full swing. As the place of advocating and important participating countries of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, Indonesia is more stable with China's comprehensive strategic partnership.The two sides should seize this rare historical opportunity, benefit the people of the two countries, promote the healthy development of the relationship between the two countries, and jointly create a peaceful and stable regional environment for the South China Sea and even the entire Asian.
The author is China Nanhai Research Institute
Assistant researcher at the Maritime Silk Road Institute
