Editorial: Indonesia - Playing With Fire in the South China Sea

By Carl Thayer

Indonesia’s new president could jeopardize bilateral relations and ASEAN unity with his maritime “shock therapy.”

On December 5 newly installed President Joko Widodo ordered Indonesian authorities to set fire to and sink three Vietnamese boats caught fishing illegally in waters near the Anambas Islands. This incident was covered by the media and given widespread publicity.

The following day Indonesia officially announced its new policy of “shock therapy” for illegal poachers. President Widodo told Antara News Agency, “We sunk three of them on Friday to teach them a lesson, so that they will give up poaching in Indonesian waters.” According to Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Indonesia intended to demonstrate “stern government action” and would sink five Thai fishing boats seized near West Kalimantan after President Widodo announced his get-tough policy.

President Widodo offered a justification for his actions in a series of interviews with the foreign press. Widodo told The Wall Street Journal, “Every day there [are] around 5,400 [foreign] boats in our ocean and our sea. And 90% of them are illegal. So to give shock therapy to them, of course, we [are] sinking them.” Government authorities estimated that Indonesia looses more than $20 billion annually due to illegal fishing.

President Widodo also noted that Vietnam was not being singled out. He claimed that fishing boats sailing under the flag of any other nation engaged in illegal fishing would be treated on the same basis. Under legislation adopted in 2009, relevant Indonesian authorities may impound or sink fishing vessels operating in Indonesian water without proper permits. 

Read the full story at The Diplomat