The Domestic Politics of Indonesia’s Approach to the Tribunal Ruling and the South China Sea

The Domestic Politics of Indonesia’s Approach to the Tribunal Ruling and the South China Sea Indonesia’s immediate response to the 12 July ruling by the Arbitral Tribunal was under-whelming. The foreign ministry issued a bland, lacklustre five-sentence statement: • Indonesia calls on all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from escalatory activities while securing Southeast Asia from military activities that could threaten peace and stability, and instead should respect international law, including 1982 UNCLOS. • Indonesia calls on all parties to continue the common commitment to uphold peace and exhibit friendship and cooperation, as have been well-sustained thus far. • Indonesia urges all parties in the South China Sea to behave and conduct their activities according to agreed-upon principles. • Indonesia will continue to push for a peaceful, free, and neutral zone in Southeast Asia to further strengthen the ASEAN political and security community. is a researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta and a doctoral candidate at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, where he was a Fulbright Presidential Scholar (2011–15). Postal address: Pakarti Centre Building, 5th Floor, Jl. Tanah Abang 3 No. 23-27, Jakarta, Indonesia 10160; email: [email protected]. 01 Roundtable-3P.indd 382 • Indonesia urges all claimant states to continue peaceful negotiations over the overlapping sovereignty claims in the South China Sea according to international law.1 At first glance, there is nothing fundamentally disagreeable about the statement. After all, Indonesia remains technically a non-claimant in the South China Sea dispute. Upon closer...