China's Map Fiasco: Indonesia Pushes for Code of Conduct Negotiation

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - As the chair of ASEAN, Indonesia has pushed for the acceleration of the code of conduct negotiation in the South China Sea with China. Beijing is currently in hot waters after publishing a new standard map on Monday, August 28, 2023, claiming around 90% of the South China Sea with the infamous U-shaped line.

Beijing claimed that the line, crossing the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia, was based on its historical map. It was not immediately clear whether the latest map denotes any new claim to the territory. 

The Director of ASEAN Political and Security Cooperation of the Foreign Ministry Rolliansyah Soemirat said on Friday, September 1, 2023, that not only accelerating the negotiation, Indonesia intends for the code of conduct to be a practical yet substantive reference through a guideline.

The guideline summarized ASEAN and China's aspiration to finalize the code of conduct in 3 years or less by conducting intensive discussions. "Considering the complexity element in the Code of Conduct, all relevant parties have been extra careful which necessitates a breakthrough to accelerate the process," said Rolliansyah.

Previously, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said that the drawing of territorial lines, including China's standard map, must be in accordance with international laws.

"The drawing of any [territorial] lines, any claims, must be in accordance with UNCLOS 1982 (the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea)," she claimed after a meeting with Commission I of the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Thursday, August 31, 2023.

Retno said Indonesia's position on the matter of territorial sovereignty has always been consistent.

The Phillippines, Malaysia, and Taiwan have rejected the standard map. On Thursday, August 31, 2023, the Philippines asked Beijing to act responsibly and abide by its obligation under international law and a 2016 arbitral ruling that declared the line had no legal grounds.

Meanwhile, Malaysia  said it had filed a diplomatic protest over the map on Wednesday, August 30, 2023, claiming that the map had no binding authority over Malaysia.

The newly published map is different from the narrower version which included a "nine-dashed-lines" China previously handed over to the UN. The current map has ten dashed lines that cover Taiwan, similar to its map in 1948.

On Wednesday, August 30, 2023, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin asked other countries to refrain from 'over-interpreting' the map. "We hope relevant sides can stay objective and calm, and refrain from over-interpreting the issue," said Wang Wenbin in a press briefing in Beijing, China.

DANIEL A. FAJRI | REUTERS

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