Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto will take office later this year at a critical time when regional tensions over territorial disputes in the South China Sea are surging.
And this won’t be just a foreign policy challenge for the new president. Chinese ships have crossed into Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone near the Nantuna Islands at the bottom tip of Beijing’s controversial ten-dash line.
Managing the escalating crisis in the South China Sea is going to be a “pivotal” challenge for Prabowo, according to Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, director of the China-Indonesia desk at the Center of Economic and Law Studies. Zulfikar joins Eric from Jakarta to discuss how he thinks Prabowo is going to handle what’s becoming a very volatile situation.
Show Notes:
The China-Global South Project: South China Sea: Litmus Test for Indonesia-China Defense Ties by Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat
South China Morning Post: In Indonesia, Beijing’s South China Sea presence seen as ‘threat’ to national interests, survey shows by Rusty Woro Yuniar
Modern Diplomacy: South China Sea Conflict: Indonesia’s Maritime Diplomacy by Sri Yaumil Habibie
Indonesia’s Role in the South China Sea Crisis