Jakarta warships on China watch

Indonesia has deployed at least two more naval warships to its northern Natuna waters to monitor China’s largest coast guard vessel, which has been patrolling the area.

An illegal foreign fishing boat is sunk by Indonesian authorities in Natuna. Picture: Getty Images

Indonesia has deployed at least two more naval warships to its northern Natuna waters to monitor China’s largest coast guard vessel, which has been patrolling the area since Jakarta announced it would forge ahead with the development of the Tuna gas field.

Indonesian navy chief Muhammad Ali confirmed up to three more warships were being deployed as backup to the waters within Indonesia’s Exclusive Economic Zone and on the southern tip of the South China Sea, a week after one navy vessel, a maritime plane and drone were sent to counter the Chinese presence.

The naval backup comes as broader maritime tensions once again mount between the US and China in the South China Sea.

China sent aircraft carrier Shandong last week to conduct live-fire drills in the disputed waters in response to the US deployment of USS Nimitz and its carrier strike group to the area for maritime defence exercises, including strike training and anti-submarine operations.

Admiral Ali insisted there was “nothing provocative” occurring in the North Natuna Sea, and that vessels had the right to pass through sovereign waters under international law, but added Jakarta also had the right to protect its sovereignty.

“The actual tension is not in the North Natuna Sea but further north. Even so, we are still preparing our assets in Natuna,” he said late on Wednesday.

“We are still protecting our sovereignty and are preparing to send at least three to four warships to Natuna and one maritime patrol plane.”

Admiral Ali said the navy was co-ordinating with Indonesia’s Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla), Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry and the air force to boost Indonesia’s presence near the disputed waters.

Bakamla had deployed its KN Pulau Marore-322 coastguard vessel while the air force base in Natuna had sent drones.

China’s CCG 5901, the world’s largest coast guard vessel, has been sailing within the North Natuna Sea since December 30, according to the Indonesian Ocean Justice Initiative.

Its appearance came days after President Joko Widodo announced an agreement had been reached with Vietnam on the boundaries of their respective EEZs following more than a decade of negotiations.

The long-awaited boundary agreement – which experts say further undermines China’s disputed claims to the South China Sea – has cleared the way for Indonesia’s Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Task Force to approve the development of the Tuna oil and gas field, also known as the Tuna Block, within Indonesia’s EEZ.

The Tuna field is located just inside Indonesia’s EEZ but also inside the so-called “Nine-Dash Line” map Beijing uses to claim historical rights over almost 90 per cent of the disputed South China Sea. The resource-rich field is expected to produce 115 million standard cubic feet of gas per day by 2027, much of it to be sent to Vietnam.

Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, an EEZ grants exclusive rights to the country that controls it to exploit resources within the water column.

But a spokesman for Beijing’s embassy in Jakarta told The Australian its coast guard vessel was patrolling an area within China’s jurisdiction.

“In order to safeguard security and order at the sea, vessels of the China Coast Guard have been cruising in sea areas that China has jurisdiction (over) in accordance with domestic law and international laws, including UNCLOS,” the spokesman said.

“At the same time, China has been working with Indonesia to manage the maritime differences, and we will continue to do so through consultation and dialogue between our two countries.”

China does not claim the Natunas but insists it has fishing rights within its Nine-Dash Line map, which Jakarta says has no legal basis and refuses to recognise.

Indonesia continues to push back against Beijing’s claims, and in 2017 renamed its northernmost maritime area inside the South China Sea as the North Natuna Sea.

Indonesia is not a party to the South China Sea territorial disputes, where Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam, Taipei and The Philippines have staked their own claims, though Beijing insists any maritime disputes with Jakarta should be managed bilaterally.

China continues to build and militarise artificial islands throughout the South China Sea in an effort to enforce its claims, despite the fact the Nine-Dash Line was ruled invalid in a 2016 international tribunal.