TheJakartaPost
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Too close for comfort
A binding code of conduct would be the ultimate proof that China is willing to become the benevolent giant that it so often promises to be through its economic incentive schemes.
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T
he recent call to restart regional negotiations with China on a code of conduct (COC) in the South China Sea is something that the Joko “Jokowi” Widodo administration must take very seriously.
Under President Jokowi, and in no small part thanks to extensive engagement by his senior minister Luhut Pandjaitan, Indonesia has never been closer to China. But perhaps it is too close for comfort.
Benefits in long-term development funding and COVID-19 response know-how aside, Jakarta’s love affair with Beijing must be weighed against the very possible risk of open conflict in our own backyard.
Unlike the United States, which extends its guarantee of security to its allies, China rarely makes the same promise — and the new coast guard law passed last week at the National People’s Congress does little to soothe concerns.
The legislation effectively weaponizes Beijing’s white hull diplomacy and gives its authorities the green light to dismantle and destroy any foreign-made structures in Chinese-claimed areas — in blatant disregard of a 2016 international tribunal ruling that invalidated its claims.
In the absence of a COC, decades of relative peace and stability in Southeast Asia’s busiest maritime trade route is at risk of being upended at the whim of Beijing — and that is not to mention China’s military dominance in the region.
The COC document itself remains elusive nearly two decades after its mandated establishment by ASEAN and China, despite underpinning efforts to prevent all-out conflict at sea among South China Sea claimants. China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines have overlapping claims there.
While Indonesia itself is not party to the dispute, it has had its fair share of problems with Chinese coast guard vessels and fishing boats encroaching into waters under its exclusive economic jurisdiction.
The new Chinese law turns this perennial problem into a ticking time bomb, and we might not want to wait until something bad actually happens. Jakarta must firmly stand its ground and protest the new law, but will it be brave enough to put 70 years of friendship on the line?
What’s certain is that the government can’t afford to measure the benefits of cozying up to China in strictly economic terms; not if the real threat of violence looms large over bilateral and regional affairs.
The COC, if it is finally agreed on and passed, promises a way to promote peace, stability, order and justice without stepping on anyone’s toes or resorting to questionable maneuvers that only increase tensions.
Even the peaceful process of negotiating the COC, despite moving at a glacial pace, is worthy of praise.
A binding code of conduct would be the ultimate proof that China is willing to become the benevolent giant that it so often promises to be through its economic incentive schemes.
Indonesia, as the de facto leader of ASEAN, must stand by this process until the very end, and China must show some political goodwill if it truly wants a prosperous and peaceful shared future with nations from the region.
