By Stanley Widianto
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia said on Monday it does not recognise China’s claims over the South China Sea despite signing a joint maritime development deal with Beijing, as some analysts warned the agreement risked compromising the country’s sovereign rights.
Beijing has long clashed with its Southeast Asian neighbours over territory in the South China Sea, which it claims sovereignty over in almost its entirety via a “nine-dash line” on its maps that cuts into the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of several countries.
Joint agreements with China in the strategic waterway have for years been sensitive, with some claimant states wary of entering into deals they fear could be interpreted as legitimising Beijing’s vast claims.
An arbitral tribunal in 2016 said the Chinese claim, based on its old maps, has no basis under international law, a decision China refuses to recognise.
A joint statement issued at the weekend during Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s visit to Beijing mentioned the two countries had “reached important common understanding on joint development in areas of overlapping claims”.
NO LEGAL BASIS
Indonesia’s foreign ministry has repeatedly claimed the country is a non-claimant state in the South China Sea and that it has no overlapping jurisdiction with China.
On Monday, the ministry said its position was unchanged and the agreement would have no impact on its sovereign rights.
“Indonesia reiterates its position that those (Chinese) claims have no international legal basis,” it said.
“The partnership does not impact sovereignty, sovereign rights or Indonesia’s jurisdiction in the North Natuna Sea.”
China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Indonesia’s statement.
China’s U-shaped line, based on its old maps, begins off central Vietnam and runs into waters off Indonesia’s Natuna islands, more than 1,000 km (620 miles) south of China’s Hainan island.
It crosses into the EEZs of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, and is patrolled by an armada of Chinese coast guard, which has been accused by its neighbours of aggression and of trying to disrupt energy and fisheries activities. China typically says its vessels are preventing incursions into its territory.
Indonesia’s foreign ministry said the economic agreement on maritime issues with China included fisheries and fish conservation, and hoped to be a model to safeguard peace and friendship.
Some Indonesian analysts, however, said signing such an agreement could have repercussions and be interpreted as a change in stance.
“If we refer to the official joint statement, that means we recognise overlapping claims,” said maritime analyst Aristyo Rizka Darmawan, adding it could compromise Indonesia’s sovereign rights to exploit resources in its EEZ.
He said Indonesia may have signed the agreement with the intention of boosting economic relations.
Klaus Heinrich Raditio, a lecturer of Chinese politics, said Indonesia never had overlapping claims to begin with and including that clause in the statement was “inappropriate”.
“This joint statement puts our national interests at risk,” he said, adding it could still be renegotiated.
(Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Additional reporting by Liz Lee in Beijing; Editing by Martin Petty and Lincoln Feast.)
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