Author: Yohanes Sulaiman

Published: 17 Dec 2024

On Nov. 9, Indonesia’s newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto caused controversy by signing a Memorandum of Understanding with China in which he basically acknowledged that Indonesia had an overlapping claim with China over the South China Sea. 

Some observers saw the agreement as acknowledging for the first time China's nine-dash line, which it uses to justify its argument that virtually the entire South China Sea is Chinese territory. Such an acknowledgment was unprecedented. Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs took pains to argue that Indonesia was not one of the claimants in the South China Sea dispute, as it did not have an overlapping claim with China, indirectly rejecting China's nine-dash line. Two weeks earlier, on Oct. 24, the new Indonesian Foreign Minister, Sugiono, had also declared Indonesia's desire to seek membership in the BRICS group of nations – named for its five original members, Brazil, Russian, China, India and South Africa – and an expanding influence base for Russia and China. 

For full article, please open the link:

https://globalasia.org/forum/on-foreign-policy-prabowo-goes-it-alone_yohanes-sulaiman

The Romanian Institute for Europe-Asia Studies (IRSEA) and Global Asia Forum a Journal of East Asia Foundation. have agreed to enter into an informal agreement on republishing their studies and analysis.

The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, position or view of IRSEA.