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early a month after the Air Force held a military exercise in Natuna, Riau Islands, the Army will also show off its forces on one of the country’s outermost islands in the South China Sea, an area that has seen territorial disputes involving several countries.

Around 3,000 Army personnel and defense system equipment will be deployed on Natuna to apparently show the world that the outer island is part of Indonesia’s territory.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, the commander in chief of the military, is expected to officially open the Army exercise slated for Nov. 10 to 17.

The 0318/Natuna District Military Command chief, Lt. Col. (Inf) Ucu Yustiana, confirmed the military event and said the personnel to join the exercise will come from 17 divisions within the Army.

“This exercise is aimed to strengthen unity among divisions within the Army,” Ucu told The Jakarta Post recently.

He said Natuna was chosen because the island had a strategic location and it had drawn attention from domestic and global entities. The military exercise hopefully would strengthen Indonesia’s posture in Southeast Asia and Asia Pacific regions.

Ucu added China had claimed areas in the South China Sea as its territory with the introduction of the nine dash lines — the nine imaginary marks showing China’s claim over most of the South China Sea.

He said the Army exercise was a form of the Indonesian government’s confirmation that Natuna was part of Indonesia’s territory even though it was located in an outer area. Thus, the island had to be defended.

In the past few days a number of the Army’s alutsista (primary defense weaponry) had arrived in Natuna, including 12 units of Main Battle Tank (MTB) Leopards, an Astros II rocket, combat vehicle 115, cannon 105 and cannons from the air defense artillery.

“The weaponry arrives in stages. The military personnel will arrive next week,” Ucu said without elaborating on which of the weaponry would be involved in the exercise.

Regarding the report that the President would officially open the exercise, Ucu said he could not confirm it. “What is certain is that this will be the Army’s peak celebration,” he said.

Meanwhile, local political observer and chairman of the Tanjung Pinang Political and Social Science College Zamzami A. Karim said Natuna had indeed been the focus of attention of the President.

Yet, he expressed hope that the government would also pay more attention to the wealth of the Natuna people.

He said so far the government had not maximized on its policy to improve the wealth of the local people and it had not done so in accordance to its security approach.

“So far, the government’s effort to boost people’s wealth is still like charity instead of empowerment. The residents in Natuna are still seen as an object,” Zamzami said.

Natuna is located 550 kilometers northeast of Batam Island, or less than 530 km from Singapore, in the South China Sea.

It was previously part of Bintan regency territory before it was established as an autonomous administration in 1999. The region is known as a center of oil and gas production.