By Prashanth Parameswaran
A new plan needs to be put into proper perspective.
On July 10, media reports surfaced that the Indonesian government had announced a plan to construct a new military base to guard border areas near the South China Sea. While the plan is still in its early stages, it is important to keep in mind a few things about what it does and does not mean to avoid misunderstanding what Indonesia may be trying to accomplish.
As it stands now, the plan is better read as part of Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s increasing focus on safeguarding the country’s sovereignty as part of the country’s foreign policy rather than a new departure or hardening of Indonesia’s South China Sea position per se. While defending Indonesia’s borders is hardly a new goal, the Jokowi administration has made it one of its top foreign policy priorities. Indeed, in Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi’s first annual policy statement in Jakarta in January, she indicated that protecting Indonesia’s sovereignty would be accomplished by responding firmly to any intrusions into Indonesian territory and by settling maritime borders (See: “The Trouble With Indonesia’s Foreign Policy Priorities Under Jokowi”). The Jokowi administration’s ‘sink the vessels’ policy within the global maritime fulcrum concept is yet another manifestation of this (See: “Explaining Indonesia’s ‘Sink the Vessels’ Policy Under Jokowi”). Given this background, it is not surprising that Indonesia would announce a plan to build more military posts in border areas to safeguard its territorial integrity.
The focus on sovereignty and territorial integrity does include the South China Sea disputes, since, as I have written previously, China’s nine-dash line overlaps with Jakarta’s exclusive economic zone generated from the resource-rich Natuna Islands chain (See: “Natuna is Indonesian, Not Chinese: Jokowi Adviser”). But it is not limitedonly to the South China Sea issue. Indeed, if one examines the Indonesian media reports closely beyond the headlines, the plan as described by the head of Indonesia’s National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), Andrinof Chaniago, is to protect Indonesia’s territory in border areas more generally. Within this plan, the Natuna Islands is also only one of several potential base locations still under construction, along with Sambas, West Kalimantan; Tarakan, North Kalimantan; and the Riau Islands.
Read the full story at The Diplomat