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strong>April 11, Online

Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Moeldoko said the country'€™s main challenges in the near future were the disputes over areas of the South China Sea and border security. He made the statement after being asked what challenges Indonesia'€™s new leadership would be facing.

He said the TNI intended to deploy four battalions comprising 4,000 personnel to two border regions, one in the western part of the country and the other to the east, in an attempt to reinforce TNI numbers safeguarding border areas.

Your comments:

At this point, no nation can deny China is the most destabilizing force in the Southeast Asian region, the reason for the regional failure to slow Chinese aggression down is the various degrees of appeasement including those by ASEAN and in particular Indonesia.

First, for years Indonesia has never admitted it has a claim against China'€™s nine-dash line map knowing that there'€™s an overlap around Natuna and has denied incidents of Chinese-escorted fishermen operating in its waters and interventions by the Chinese navy.

Second, Indonesia has routinely failed to acknowledge or oppose several criminal Chinese invasions of fellow ASEAN members (the occupation of eight Vietnamese islets in 1988, Mischief Reef in 1995 and Scarborough Shoal in 2012 in the Philippines).

Third, Indonesia does not voice support when the Philippines peacefully takes China to the UN Arbitration Court.

These constitute a sense of neutrality to hopefully mediate between the parties but evidently they have also encouraged more Chinese advances against those who spoke up. Indonesia always looks busy doing something.

Obviously, Indonesia is not alone and cannot be solely blamed for this regional failure. However, Indonesia is not only a co-founder and de facto leader of ASEAN, it is also by far the largest economy and population in Southeast Asia '€” the only country that matters to China and the only influential voice that can redirect regional efforts to change things.

It'€™s time for Indonesia to realize it can'€™t continue failed activities and expect different results. Indonesia must step up to join the Philippines and Vietnam and motivate Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore to do the same; to tell China that they are a threat to be opposed by all means and to reform ASEAN from being easily penetrated by Chinese corrupt money and individual members derailing the will of the majority.    

Mary Hong

 The South China Sea and China'€™s claim with a nine-dash line includes the waters around Natuna. I remember Indonesian officials arresting Chinese fishermen, then a larger Chinese boat quickly arrived and the Chinese at gunpoint forced the Indonesian officials to release the Chinese fishermen.

So is Moeldoko going to maintain order when China comes into the waters around Natuna?

Eddy