The Joint Statement Of The Republic Of Indonesia-China Should Not Even Make The Situation Of The South China Sea More Mourning

Photo: BPMI Setpres/Muchlis Jr

JAKARTA - Member of Commission I DPR RI, TB Hasanuddin highlighted President Prabowo Subianto's joint statement with Chin President Xi Jinping last week regarding maritime cooperation. He warned the government not to let this cooperation make the situation of the South China Sea (LCS) still a conflict between several Asean countries.

"Don't let our maritime cooperation with the RRT (China People's Republic) in the economic sector actually worsen the situation in the South China Sea or our good relations with our neighboring ASEAN countries," said TB Hasanuddin, Tuesday, November 12.

A number of parties questioned the contents of the nine-point joint statement between Prabowo and Xi Jinping. In that section, it was stated that the two governments reached an understanding of the joint development of maritime areas which are currently in a situation of overlapping claims.

This point is seen as a change in Indonesia's attitude towards the sovereignty claim of Chinese territory in the South China Sea (LCS) based on the policy of the nine-dash line.

For information, the '9-Dash Line' is a line made unilaterally by China. The '9-Dash Line' became a historical area of 2 million square kilometers of LCS whose 90 percent of its territory was claimed by China as its historical maritime right. As a result of this unilateral claim, a number of countries were involved in conflicts with China such as Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei Darussalam.

TB Hasanuddin reminded the government to be more careful in collaborating with China.

"Whatever the form of RI-RRT maritime cooperation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should be more sensitive by looking at disputes in the LCS as a collective issue of ASEAN," he said.

"After all, neighbors are the closest parties to ask for help if we have a problem," continued the man who is familiarly called Kang TB.

Kang TB said the government should consider Indonesia's position in the area related to the LCS. Experts are also worried that the RI-China cooperation will trigger tensions among ASEAN countries because the contents of the joint statement between Prabowo and Xi Jinping seem to have made Indonesia recognize China's unilateral claims regarding the 9-Dash Line.

"Indonesia has consistently rejected the nine-dash line claims because we consider it to have no international legal basis and contradicts the 1982 UNCLOS which we have ratified," said Kang TB.

Until the end of President Joko Widodo's (Jokowi) administration, Indonesia did have a policy not to admit China's unilateral claim to the 9-Dash Line. This is because the claim of the nine lines is unknown to UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) 1982 where Indonesia and China are participant countries.

However, with the 9th point from the joint statement, it can be interpreted that Indonesia recognizes the maritime zone that overlaps or recognizes the 9-Dash Line.

Kang TB also revealed that the cooperation carried out by Indonesia-China this time has the potential to violate the law. This is because Indonesia has ratified UNCLOS as Law Number 17 of 1985 concerning the United Nations Convention on Maritime Law (UNCLOS).

"If we carry out fishery economic cooperation in the region with parties we consider it to be against international law, wouldn't that show our non-compliance?" said the legislator from the West Java IX electoral district.

Furthermore, Kang TB highlighted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' clarification that maritime cooperation between Indonesia and China only includes economic aspects in the field of fisheries and fisheries conservation in the South China Sea region based on the principles of mutual respect and equality.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also stated that the cooperation did not mean that Indonesia acknowledged China's claim to the 9-Dash Line.

Even so, Kang TB reminded that conditions that have often occurred in the aftermath of China's claims. China's claim to the 9-Dash Line is known to have an impact on the loss of Indonesia's waters covering an area of 83,000 square km or 30 percent of the Indonesian Sea area in Natuna.

"So far, Chinese ships have entered the Natuna region and carried out fish theft. If this economic cooperation is carried out, will it benefit us?" Kang TB questioned.

The member of the Commission in the DPR in charge of defense and international relations asked the Government to provide more comprehensive clarity regarding cooperation with China. Because, according to Kang TB, the problems at the border are not only related to economic problems but also related to state sovereignty.

"Are Chinese fishing boats then free to roam in the Natuna region to catch our fish? This needs to be watched out for," said Major General Retired TNI.

In his explanation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that cooperation with China is in line with the spirit of the Declaration of the Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea which has been agreed upon by ASEAN and Chinese countries in 2022, as well as efforts to create peace in the LCS region.

On the other hand, there is also a warning from an expert who said that the Government should conduct consultations with the DPR if it is true that the jointly developed area is in the North Natuna region. Moreover, if the joint development is really realized, many laws and regulations in Indonesia are violated.

"I hope the Ministry of Foreign Affairs needs to be more careful and responsive in responding to all forms of official statements from the president's state visit. Don't just become a firefighter if there are such problems," concluded Kang TB.