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asia policy
What Is at Stake?
The territorial disputes in the South China Sea place Indonesia’s
interests at stake, namely the security of the resource-rich Natuna Islands,
the sanctity of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS), the security of sea lines of communication, and nonalignment
vis-à-vis the major powers. The security of the Natuna Islands is Indonesia’s
immediate concern in the South China Sea. China has never claimed the
islands, yet neither has it clarified to Indonesian policymakers the meaning
of the U-shaped line. Indonesia rejects the U-shaped line and claims to
have neither territorial nor boundary disputes with China. 3 However,
Indonesia is increasingly concerned with the potential spillover effects of
conflict between China and other claimants as a result of Beijing’s assertive
enforcement of the U-shaped line.
The Natuna Islands are scattered across over 100,000 square miles of
ocean—more than ten times the size of their total land area—and only
27 out of the 154 islands are inhabited, with a total population of around
76,000 people. 4 Despite the lack of infrastructure, the Natuna Islands are
one of Indonesia’s richest regencies in offshore natural resources. Fisheries
are estimated to yield a potential of 500,000 tons annually, but in reality
the locals manage to haul in only a third of it through traditional methods.
Chinese fishermen continually venture south into the fishing grounds
around the islands, escorted by Chinese government fishery patrol vessels.
A number of incidents have occurred between these vessels and Indonesian
maritime authorities while the latter were trying to apprehend illegal
Chinese fishermen, including one threatening encounter in which a Chinese
government vessel trained its guns on an Indonesian patrol boat. 5
Beneath the seabed also lie vast energy resources. Located within
the purported overlap of the U-shaped line, the East Natuna block
(block D-Alpha) is estimated to contain one of the world’s largest gas
reserves at around 46 trillion cubic feet. Indonesia’s oil and gas company,
Pertamina, in partnerships with U.S.-based ExxonMobil, France’s Total SA,
3 Randy Faby and Ben Blanchard, “Indonesia Asks China to Clarify South China Sea Claims,” Reuters,
November 12, 2015 u http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southchinasea-china-indonesia-idUSKC
N0T10KK20151112#FpxvFikQ4V2vr8eB.97.
4 Ristian Atriandi Supriyanto, “Indonesia’s Natuna Islands: Next Flashpoint in the South China Sea?”
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), RSIS Commentary, no. 033, February 16,
2015 u https://www.rsis.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/CO15033.pdf.
5 Scott Bentley, “Shaping the Narrative: New Chinese Documentary Revisits Indonesia and the South
China Sea,” Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Strategist, February 26, 2014 u http://www.aspistrategist.
org.au/shaping-the-narrative-new-chinese-documentary-revisits-indonesia-and-the-south-china-sea.
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