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November 13, 2024 | 04:31 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - International Law Professor at the University of Indonesia, Hikmahanto Juwana, said the country’s joint development with China potentially violates the law.
“Several laws in Indonesia are violated if the joint development truly comes to fruition,” said Hikmahanto Juwana in a statement to Tempo on Wednesday, November 13, 2024.
Indonesian President Prabowo and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping issued a joint statement on November 9, where it’s mentioned that "the two sides reached important common understanding on joint development in areas of overlapping claims."
The statement was stipulated under item 9, which said “The two sides will jointly create more bright spots in maritime cooperation.”
Hikmahanto questioned whether the overlapping claims cited related to China’s unilateral claim on the Ten Dash Line (previously known as the Nine Dash Line) overlapping with Indonesia's EEZ in North Natuna.
If so, said Hikmahanto, it signaled a fundamental change to Indonesia’s policy on China’s territorial claim, which will impact the geopolitical climate in the region.
Indonesia, under former President Joko Widodo’s reign, has not acknowledged China’s unilateral Ten Dash Line claim, especially since it is not recognized in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), in which Indonesia and China are participating countries.
"Furthermore, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 affirmed that China's unilateral claim is indeed not recognized in UNCLOS," he said.
Yet the joint statement on November 9 has led Indonesia to acknowledge China's unilateral claim on the Ten Dash Line. Hikmahanto explained that joint development only occurs when each country mutually acknowledges the existence of overlapping maritime zones.
The recognition of China's unilateral claim on the Ten Dash Line clearly does not align with the maritime boundary negotiations that Indonesia has been conducting. Indonesia has never engaged in maritime negotiations with China since it does not recognize the Ten Dash Line
Potential trigger to regional tension
Hikmahanto said countries that are in conflict with China over its territorial claims, such as Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Brunei Darussalam, will question Indonesia's stance, possibly triggering tensions among ASEAN countries.
"Not to mention major countries that do not acknowledge China's unilateral claim because it affects international freedom of navigation, such as the United States and Japan, will be highly disappointed with Indonesia's standing," he said. "Certainly, this will change the political landscape in the region."
A joint development in North Natuna will greatly benefit China, the professor said. “This diverges from President Prabowo's inaugural speech as president addressing the People's Consultative Assembly that Indonesia will not stand behind competing superpowers," he said.
The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in its official statement on Monday, November 11, explained that this agreement lines up with the spirit of the Declaration of the Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea, which was agreed upon by ASEAN countries and China in 2002, and the effort to create peace in the South China Sea region.
Nevertheless, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asserted that this agreement cannot be interpreted as an acknowledgment of the Ten Dash Line. "Indonesia reaffirms its position that the Ten Dash claim has no international legal basis and is not in line with UNCLOS 1982. Therefore, this cooperation does not affect Indonesia's sovereignty, sovereign rights, or jurisdiction in the North Natuna Sea," said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Suci Sekarwati contributed to the writing of this article.
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