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Indonesia’s defense diplomacy amid regional dynamics
Given that the new alliance will enable Australia to operate nuclear-powered submarines, Indonesia requires a special arrangement with its southern neighbor for the safety of its waters.
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Philippine coast guard personnel conduct a maritime exercise near Thitu island in the disputed South China Sea in an undated photo from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on April 25. (AFP/Handout)
T
he current regional dynamics in Southeast Asia are no less sexy than the issues developing on the Korean Peninsula or in the Middle East. We can even say that ASEAN is facing a trickle-down of issues.
While the long-standing South China Sea (SCS) dispute remains unaddressed, ASEAN is dealing with a tricky situation in which its ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP), which promotes a more humane direction on the basis of equal rights, peace and mutual benefit has been juxtaposed with other Indo-Pacific strategies that are intended to contain China.
Indonesia and other ASEAN countries aim to bridge the interests of the West and East and oppose such rivalry. Indonesia assumes that Southeast Asia is affected the most by the competition between the two global powers and their alliances. As a result, there is a struggle for influence and changes in the political structures of countries in the region, influenced by globalist interests.
My take regarding the regional developments is as follows: 1) The SCS situation affects the national interests of each country in the region, especially ASEAN member states; 2) Indonesia's national interests must be reflected in the implementation of defense diplomacy; and 3) Indonesia should strive to maintain good neighborhood relations with regional countries, including ASEAN member states, in order to realize mutual prosperity in a sustainable manner.
Making the Southeast Asia region an entity within the ASEAN framework is a necessity, but interests in maintaining presence and influence have driven the urges of superpowers to assert dominance in the SCS, an area full of ship crossings and natural resources in the forms of fisheries and oil and gas resources.
The rise of China, which unilaterally claims almost the entire SCS as its territory, has provoked mixed reactions, initially only from countries located around the South China Sea. But China's initial intention, which did not involve countries outside the region -- like the United States, Australia and Japan -- of a bilateral approach with each Southeast Asian member country, has triggered a chain reaction.
ASEAN member states that have built close relationships with either global players in the West, or China in the East, have demanded greater attention in order to balance their bargaining power through a security approach. Unsurprisingly, the negotiations over the South China Sea Code of Conduct (CoC) between ASEAN and China has moved at a snail pace and cannot keep up with the latest developments in the SCS.
