Indonesia Drives Chinese Coast Guard Away From Its Waters Three Times In One Week As New Leadership Vows To Bolster Country's Defenses, Military Ties With Philippines
Incident Could Be Seen As Test By Beijing On New Leadership, Or A Change In The Way Indonesia Handles Intrusions On Its Claimed Territory.
JAKARTA - Indonesia’s Maritime Security Agency said Thursday that they have driven Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessels out of Indonesian waters 3 times in the last week after it said the CCG interfered with a survey being carried out by an Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas corporation Pertamina in the South China Sea.
The incidents come just days after Prabowo Subianto became Indonesia's 8th president on October 20th, 2024. The day after Prabowo became president, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, as President Xi Jinping's special representative, attended the inauguration and held talks, congratulating him on his presidency.
Han said at the time that Prabowo's visit to China shortly after being elected demonstrated his deep affection and profound friendship toward China, and his “commitment to advancing China-Indonesia relations," according to Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua.
Despite the friendly rhetoric, Chinese vessels have at times entered into waters claimed by Indonesia, as China lays claim to most of the waters located around the South China Sea region.
Jakarta Protests The Intrusions
Jakarta has protested the intrusions into its territory after the Indonesia’s Maritime Security Agency released a statement on Saturday saying, "The China Coast Guard-5402 (CCG-5402) re-entered the Indonesian jurisdiction on Friday".
The same vessel had entered Indonesian waters on Monday, and then again on Wednesday, after which Indonesian patrol vessels warned the ships off, according to the Maritime Security Agency.
After initially disrupting the survey being carried out by the state-owned oil company Pertamina, an Indonesian vessel contacted the CCG vessel, to which the Chinese Coast Guard stated that the area is within China's jurisdiction.
According to Indonesia, however, the waters are part of its own territory and recognized as such under international law. "Indonesia has a sovereign right to explore the natural resource in that area and that cannot be disturbed by any country," the agency stated.
China's internationally unrecognized 9-dash line overlaps with Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Although China claims nearly the entire South China Sea region, the international community does not recognize Beijing's 9-dash line maps as being authoritative.
Incident Could Be Seen As Test By Beijing On New Leadership, Or A Change In The Way Indonesia Handles Intrusions On Its Claimed Territory
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