Indonesia has strategically
kept out of the disputes in the South China Sea
but that might change.
These are the Natuna Islands.
They are Indonesia’s sovereignty territory,
which places the 200 nautical miles extending these islands
within its exclusive economic zone.
But this overlaps China’s claim.
Their nine-dash line
in its original publication
places the waters beyond 75 nautical miles
within its own sovereign territory.
And this dispute has recently escalated.
It started in 2016 with a standoff
between the Indonesian
and the Chinese navy
over the detainment of Chinese fishermen
and it erupted in 2021
when Indonesia started drilling for oil.
This oil field is valued
by the Indonesian government
to be worth $500 billion.
China and Indonesia have both significantly
increased their military presence
in recent years.
The Indonesians have built a base
on these islands
and organized
the largest exercise in their history.
While China is encroaching
these waters more frequently and blatantly.
This is whether China
is stealing the Natuna Islands
with Hindsight.
The Natuna Islands are part of the
Riau Archipelago,
situated between the Malay Peninsula
and northern Borneo.
They have historically been mostly influenced
by states on the Malay Peninsula,
the British and the Dutch,
in times when they administered these regions
agreed that the Dutch would not expand its influence
north of Singapore.
This was all the way back in 1824,
but in Natuna Islands
were never mentioned by name
and even though this agreement
put the islands
within the British sphere of influence,
they were formally annexed by Indonesia in 1956,
one year before Malaysia's independence.
The islands have formed part
of Indonesia ever since.
They are located at the center of a vital trade
passage linking East Asia and West Asia.
This ocean carriers and estimates wait for it
$3.4 trillion in annual trade.
But in Natuna Islands are also of importance
for Indonesia's fisheries.
Indonesia is after China,
the largest exporter of fish in the world,
the waters around the Natuna Islands alone
make up 6% of its entire fish stock.
In 2016, the dispute intensified.
The Indonesian Navy arrested eight Chinese fishermen
for fishing within their exclusive economic zone.
But then a boat from the Chinese Coast Guard appeared
and they tried to free them.
This incident broke a pattern.
Both nations up to this point
declared that they had no territorial dispute.
Similar encroachments in the past
were dealt with quietly and in the background.
This changed their dynamics.
The Indonesian President
then visited the islands on a warship.
and these pictures traveled the world.
This was interpreted as a message to China.
They would protect their territorial sovereignty.
One month later,
an international tribunal
in the Hague ruled
that there is no legal basis for China
to claim historic
rights to resources
falling within the nine dash line.
This basically nullified China's claim
around these islands.
The following year, Indonesia,
renamed the area to the North Natuna Sea.
China has remained ambiguous over
whether it recognizes Indonesia's
200 nautical mile border.
While they state
that they don't dispute the islands.
but Chinese confrontation of the Indonesian navy
completely changed the dynamic.
And Indonesia is treading on thin ice.
Their main export destination is China,
And they are by far
their biggest source of foreign investment.
The Chinese investments under the Belt and Road Initiative
has been crucial to President Widodo's domestic economic agenda.
Indonesia is balancing its relationship between China
and the United States
They haven’t condemned the war in Ukraine.
But they do participate
in joint military exercises with the US.
In late 2018,
Indonesia opened a base on the Natuna Islands,
stationing over a thousand soldiers,
but tensions would only rise further.
In December 2019, a fleet of Chinese fishing vessels
entered Indonesia's exclusive economic zone.
They were accompanied
by two Chinese Coast Guard vessels and a frigate.
The 63 fishing vessels stayed there
and fished for five days.
Indonesia responded two weeks later
by calling on fishers
operating in the Java Sea
to move to the Natuna Islands.
Shortly thereafter, an Indonesian
oil rig began drilling two wells
140 nautical miles north of the Natuna Islands.
Immediately upon learning this, the Chinese
sent a navy ship to patrol the rig.
Two Indonesians sent one of theirs.
And this kicked off a tense period
of mutual harassment.
Over the next four months,
Chinese and Indonesian ships
were shadowing each other around the oil and gas field
frequently coming as close as two kilometers from each other.
During this time, Indonesia
and the United States held
a two week military exercise,
which they have done frequently since 2007.
Then China sent survey ships conduct
seabed surveys in Indonesia's
exclusive economic zone.
for the next couple of months,
they would conduct research on the seabed
as Chinese navy boats were offering them protection.
That's when the Chinese sent a letter
to Indonesia's foreign ministry
demanding that they would hold
drilling in the disputed waters.
This communication has not been publicized,
but Reuters report that their sources said
the China made repeated demands that Indonesia
stop drilling, that's when Indonesia announced
its largest military exercise in its history.
This time,
under the banner of 14 nations,
including a combined 4000 soldiers.
The changed attitude between
China and Indonesia is reason for concern
on a geopolitical level,
for its potential implications
on the stability of the region
on a local level,
because it's directly
affecting the livelihood
of the somewhat 80,000 people that live here,
whose primary income is fisheries
and on a national level.
Because it could compromise Indonesia's relationship
with its most important trade partner.
this video you're seeing on the left
talks in detail about
the South China Sea dispute.
Consider it for your next watch.