AN ANALYSIS OF THE SOUTH CHINA SEA CONFLICT: INDONESIA’S PERSPECTIVES, CONTEXTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Abstract

The South China Sea have been discussing seriously. Historically, the conflict had started from
the contested area between France and Japan, until the outcome Second World War-power
vacuum. None of the international documents provides clarity of sovereignty in the South China
Sea. China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Brunei Darussalam are those
countries who have an overlapping territorial claim that are currently emerging are more due to
economic, geostrategic, and domestic politics. As a non-claimant state, Indonesia has a role to
facilitate and solving the conflict, because Indonesia's water, the North Natuna Sea, also has an
area that is an incision on territorial claims. The alignment of ZEEI and the Nine-Dash Line has
economic implications and regional defense setting. This article uses the qualitative analysis
method to explore three purposes. First is to explore the historical, philosophy and legal-approach
in discussing the background of the conflict. Second is to analyze the attitudes and perspectives of
Indonesia's strategic position in the South China Sea. Third is to propose some possible
recommendations that Indonesia needed to resolve SCS conflicts with the roles and actions
required for international and regional purposes. Indonesia, as a non-claimant state, has a role of
diplomacy as a mediator, honest broker, and confidence builder in the handling of the South China
Sea conflict.