Indonesia's Influence On The International Platform

The Spratly Islands provide a rich source of controversy, despite their small size, due to the aforementioned rich resources and disputed claims. Where the background information leaves off, at the year 1988, no less than four countries have claimed the Spratly Islands: Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and China. Two newcomers, Brunei and Malaysia, have claimed small parts, but as of 1988 no effort had been made to enforce these claims. These nations are all recently industrialized- and are all eager to stake their place in the world. All are desperate to prove themselves to the international community that they are forced to reckoned with- not playthings which can be exploited by western powers. Therefore, there is a great sense of national

The current Status Quo is complete US political and military domination in the South-China Sea, United States dominated and dictated trade deals, and unipolarity of hegemonic power (Beckley 2011) All of which, if China desires to grow its power, must challenge.

Australian-Indonesian relations are the foreign relations between the two countries, whether economically, politically, legally or socially. Australian-Indonesian relations involve an interaction in foreign policies between the two nations (Wolfsohn, 1951, p. 68). As long as Indonesia is Australia 's closest and largest neighbor, they are bound to have great international relations. These relations began as early as the 17th century and had only become enhanced with time (Daly, 2003, p. 397). The relationship has been defined by a conjoint growth trade of up to $14 between the years 2011-2012 which reports an increase from the previous economic year (Mark, 2012, p.402). These countries are members of various trade deals such as the ASEAN Regional Forum in addition to having close ties with education, defense, and leadership. Australia 's relationship with Indonesia is crucial, and lack of such could severely bruise the economy, and hence they need to keep united by ensuring the use of widespread media with beneficial input. Australia interacts with Indonesia in a way such as sporting activity, tourism, education, economic policies, youth exchange programs, cultures and above all their diplomacy (Okamoto, 2010, p.241).

When it comes to the political profile, seven different countries have competing maritime claims (mostly over the Spratly and Paracel Islands), some of which become even more complicated as some overlap with other nations’ Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ). Despite the “intraregional distrust, deeply rooted historical issues, and rapidly increasing military spending” in the region surrounding the South China Sea, one expert argues that “not only has the conflict not escalated into a serious military conflict; it has, in fact, been mitigated… in fact, a more stable peace has developed.” (Costlow, 2012, p.6).

China would set up defense toward illegal actions of the foreign fishermen. One of the fish man said to the author, “One minute you will see an airplane, then there is naval boat. If we keep going over there, maybe we won’t be able to go home to see our family. It is just not the Philippine, but Vietnamese are forbidden to the sea as well (Bale 2016).” The attacking of the civilian is one of the main causes of the tension. To make the case worse, there is conflict when a country tries to defense its own territory. The article mentioned, “Indonesian maritime law enforcement officials arrested eight Chinese on charges of illegal fishing. The fishermen were less than three miles near the water from Indonesia’s Natuna Island. Under international law, the land belongs to Indonesian, but they are partially overlap with China’s U-shaped line claims. So, the China says it has the right to fish there (Bale 2016).” There is always conflict when international law and country’s law comes head to head, because no country is willing to give up their own property. China refuse to participate in any solution which has stretched out the tension more. As previously mentioned, the Philippines brought this case to the in Permanent Court of Arbitration but China chose to continue to ignore the decision of the Court. United States is an ally of the Philippines. There will be billions of deaths if a war between United States and China breaks

As of today, China has expanded and built over seven artificial islands in the South China Sea since 2014. The South China Sea has recently come to be a major problem in Asia as issues have risen over who has rights of passage and claims in this area. The Chinese of recent have been making territorial claims in the South China Sea that are in areas of free passage for many other Asian countries and the United States. In October 2015, a U.S. guided missile destroyer encountered one of the artificial islands and China’s response was that it would “take any measure” to maintain its security in “their territory”. The Chinese have been questioned in the Permanent Court of Arbitration by the Philippines after claiming rights to historical locations in the South China Sea, which violates sovereign rights of the Philippines, yet China responded to this outcome with refusal and has continued to advance itself in the territory causing huge disputes with its neighboring countries as freedom of navigation has been compromised through China’s actions.. In order to guarantee resolution and maintain the freedom of navigation aspect of international law there needs to be a foreign policy put in place that puts more United States military in the South China Sea with support from disputing countries like Japan and the Philippines as a way to make the issue multilateral and law abiding.

Indonesia is the sixteenth largest economy, the largest economy in the South-east Asian economic region with the world's fourth largest population (263 million in 2017). It is an emerging economy that has increased its international integration, trade liberalisation and diverted from policies of import substitution towards export-led development. Indonesia is a member of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies and has been an active founding member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The impact of globalisation has benefited Indonesia as quality of life indicators and economic developments have improved but it also presents the challenge of improving regulations, building more competitive industries, increasing investment into education and infrastructure to remain competitive. Consequently, Indonesia has introduced numerous strategies to promote economic growth and development.

In July 2013, Wenweipo - the pro-PRC Chinese-language newspaper published an article titled “Six Wars China is sure to fight in the next 50 years”. According to this article, after unification of Taiwan (year 2020 to 2025), China will take the second war: Reconquest of Spratly Islands (year 2025 to 2030) and “China will send the ultimatum to countries surrounding the Islands with the deadline of 2028. The countries having disputes on the sovereignty of Islands can negotiate with China on preserving their shares of investments in these Islands by giving up”. In 1999, two Chinese military colonels – authors of the book namely “Unlimited War” suggested using an “unlimited war” to solve the disputing in the South China Sea. These authors said that, to avoid a war does not mean that not using military force and a conflict is indispensable. However, there is one more important thing that to control the intensities of conflict that. It is necessary to conduct some special activities to prove the sovereignty of China in the disputing Spratly Islands but do not let this activities increase to the total war. These things prove that the potential war between Vietnam and China in the future could be come true.

In the 21st century the interests and influence of China, India, and the US are beginning to intersect and overlap thereby this region is bound to become epitome of international conflicts and power dynamics. The presence of the three powers in the Indian Ocean is shown at Appendix Q attached. The littoral countries are going to play a major role in the ongoing power struggle because of their strategic locations. It is clearly evident that of the three most influential countries, it is China who is making forays in the domain of other countries and projecting its power in the far flung areas. The point to ponder is ‘Is this Showcase of Power a Case of Expansionist China’ or ‘Is it Economic Necessity of China’. In the present situation it is a mix of both. Before moving any further it is vital to analyze the conflicting situation in the region.

The dispute over the South China Sea denotes the process of power rebalancing while China rising as a hegemony in East Asia. China craves for more resources and power and decides to effectuate that by controlling more maritime territory. This act impelled the United State to align with the Philippines to balance with China. In a realism world, U.S. has adequate reason to intervene for fear for China becoming too strong a power.

The territorial and maritime disputes over the South China Sea (SCS) have been ongoing for decades. The disputes have been considered to be one the fiercest-contested in Asia. The South China Sea is an enclosed sea surrounded by several different states. China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan, and Malaysia all surrounded the South China Sea. The main cause of tension in this dispute is because China claims to have “historical sovereignty” over all of the South China Sea. Associations of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have come up with different discussions and suggestions on how to end the disputes with favorable conditions for all contending states. They use the principles of the United Nation Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and form the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). The states surrounding the South China Sea possess 12 nautical miles territorial sea and 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zones (EEZs). Thus, the South China Sea is not only international waters, instead, it is also overlapping exclusive economic zones. According to UNCLOS, disputes over exclusive economic zones must be resolved through negotiations by the contending states. Many of these contending Southeast Asian states have negotiated their maritime boundaries, however, China fails to comply. China claims that it owns all of the South China Sea, and therefore, has no need to

Somewhere off the coast of Southeast Asia in the South China sea lies a string of 14 islands and reefs. These reefs and islands are the center of an international dispute of sorts. Six surrounding countries lay claim to at least a few of the islands, but China claims them all. Including the sea surrounding them. All the Spratly Islands are claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam, while parts of them are claimed by Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines. But according to China, their territorial rights to the islands and sea date back over 2,000 years from ancestors who discovered, named and explored the South China sea (The World Factbook: Spratly Islands) (Livingstone).

Nowadays, the conflict of territory solving in the world causes many complicated problems among countries, as well as tensions in foreign policies. One of these conflicts is the dispute in South China Sea between China and six neighbor ASEAN countries. With the intervention of the United States, the issue turns to be more serious as it attracts a lot of concerns from international community. This research tries to find a clear way of understanding the South China Sea conflict, specifically about the effort of China and Vietnam to gain the control over the two groups of islands: Paracel and Spratly. The hypothesis intends to express the possibility about Vietnam’s victory in this conflict with the help of the United States.

In the Western Pacific, the South China Sea is a global crossroads that holds strategic importance for many nations world wide. The South China Sea stretches from the Taiwan and Luzon Straits in the north to Indonesia and the Strait of Malacca in the south with Vietnam on the west and the Philippines and Borneo on the east. In total size, the South China Sea surpasses the Mediterranean Sea. However, unlike this Near-Eastern comparator, territorial disputes and conflicting claims threaten the movement of global trade through the South China Sea, thus unbalancing regional stability in the Asia-Pacific. Claimants include the bordering coastal countries of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Republic of China (a.k.a. Taiwan), the

During his keynote address at the opening of the 30th Asia-Pacific roundtable, Malaysian Prime Minister said, “We will continue to rely on diplomacy and dialogue to peacefully resolve difference and disputes. We will do so in accordance with and in adherence to the norms, customs, and principles of international law" (Cheng, 2016). Disputes in the SCS have been a long-standing issues amongst claimants such as Malaysia, Brunei, Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Republic of China. Apart from territorial disputes, the SCS holds a critical geostrategic importance due to its strategic location and energy reserves (Kaplan, 2011). Increased of China assertive action in the SCS and reclamation work in Spratlys has disturbed the SCS claimants and its users. In early 2013, Philippines have initiated an arbitration case against China over maritime disputes in the South China Sea at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague (Xue Lei, 2016). Indonesia recently involved with the SCS disputes when Chinese fishing vessel encroached into Natuna Islands waters and Indonesian war ship has fired a warning shot toward the Chinese fishing vessel. Subsequently the Indonesian president visited Natuna Islands and held a meeting onboard the war ship as to send a stern warning about the country 's commitment to protecting its sovereignty (Gomez, 2016). In addition to that, the United States interest in the freedom of navigation with the rebalancing strategy for its strategic presence