Indonesia flags unease over Beijing’s South China Sea actions in comments from maritime security chief, army staff college
- The head of the country’s Maritime Security Agency warned of a ‘spillover conflict’ with China in waters near the Natuna Islands
- Views of China being a threat to Indonesia’s sovereignty are also present within the Indonesian military
The chief of Indonesia’s Maritime Security Agency has warned that China’s new coastguard law has heightened the risk of a “spillover conflict” into Indonesia’s territorial waters around the Natuna Islands, the site of past sea skirmishes between the two countries.
Aan was referring to a law that took effect on Monday that allows, among other things, Chinese coastguard vessels to use “all necessary” means, including pre-emptive strikes, against threats by foreign vessels in waters China claims as its own.
A spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, Wang Wenbin, said on Thursday that Beijing hoped “relevant countries can objectively and correctly view” the new coastguard law, and that they would “not make unwarranted comments” about the matter.
China and several Southeast Asian nations have been locked in an ongoing dispute over its expansive claims over the energy-rich waters of the South China Sea, which it demarcates on a map with a U-shaped “nine-dash line”.
Indonesia does not have any claims in the South China Sea, but Beijing’s claims over areas that are legally recognised as within Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone – including waters around the Natuna Islands – are a source of tension in bilateral relations.