High-Level US-Indonesia Defence Meeting Aims To Keep China at Bay as Donald Trump ‘Tries to Solidify His Legacy in Asia’

South China Morning Post

08 December 2020

With just a month to go before US President Donald Trump’s administration ends, its Acting Defence Secretary was in Indonesia on Monday to garner support for Trump’s hardline stance towards Beijing, with some analysts viewing this as part of an ongoing attempt to box the incoming Biden administration in on its policies towards China. Indonesia does not consider itself a party to the South China Sea dispute, but Beijing claims historic rights to areas overlapping Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around the Natuna Islands off the Sumatran coast. Beijing demarcates its claims on maps with a nine-dash line. Dr Collin Koh, a Research Fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, RSIS agreed that while Indonesia has been firmly objecting to China’s South China Sea claims and has implemented policy actions in the North Natuna Sea to counter what it sees as growing uncertainties in the area, it has also been wary of the evolving Sino-US rivalry and associated tensions in the region. “This does mean that Jakarta is very cautious not to be entrapped by this development,” he said.

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Last updated on 08/12/2020