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Game of assertive cooperation in Indo-Pacific region
On the one hand, it is unpractical for Indonesia to directly support Australia’s move to step up its defense capabilities with the best technology available but on the other hand, Jakarta might feel relieved that someone is finally standing up to the bully.
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This US Navy photo obtained May 19, 2020 shows the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) as it is moored pier side at Naval Base Guam on May 15, 2020. Theodore Roosevelt's COVID-negative crew returned from quarantine beginning on April 29, 2020 and is making preparations to return to sea to continue their scheduled deployment to the Indo-Pacific. (Agence France-Presse/Conner D. Blake)
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re we entirely sure that the Indonesian Foreign Ministry meant what it said when it issued its statement expressing concerns over Australia’s decision to pursue nuclear powered submarines from the United Kingdom and the United States?
A race to nuclear arms in the region is certainly a matter for concern and Jakarta is on the right side at pointing out the dangers of a possible escalation in an already volatile neighborhood.
Yet considering the aggressive stance that China has been consistently projecting to assert its maritime rights and also taking note of its duplicity in advocating for the rule of law and peaceful resolution of any dispute in the region while at the same time totally disregarding a ruling based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, perhaps a different reasoning is emerging within the corridors of the Pancasila Building.
On the one hand, it is unpractical for Indonesia to directly support Australia’s move to step up its defense capabilities with the best technology available but on the other hand, Jakarta might feel relieved that someone is finally standing up to the bully.
One thing should be clear: China has its own rights to pursue its own domestic interests and advance to the global stage and even overtake the United States in terms of economic power.
Yet its rise cannot come at the expense of the international rule of law that Beijing rhetorically continues to profess to adhere to but then in reality often ignores, ending up playing the retaliation game.
It is not just with Australia but it happened before with Norway and now with Lithuania.
