South China Sea

Since The Permanent Court of Arbitration issued its award on 12 July 2016 it have raised many controvertion. Almost all Submissions are decided in favour of the Philippines. The Award, as expected by many scholars, is not intended to solve the core dispute of the South China Sea ‘what maritime features belong to whom’, since the very nature of this kind of dispute is not under the Tribunal competence. The sovereignty over disputed features shall be left to the claimant States for the resolution. Nevertheless, the Tribunal Award has not only clarified the dispute but also partially solve the core dispute. The legal clarification is expected to contribute to future negotiations among the claimant States concerning the core (sovereignty) dispute. This Article attempts to identify and describe what has been changed by the Tribunal Rulings and what has been solved. The implication of the Ruling on Indonesia’s legal interest is also briefly discuss.

Penelitian hukum ini berjudul: “Mekanisme Diplomatik Penyelesaian Sengketa Laut Tiongkok Selatan Pasca The South China Sea Arbitration Award Of 12 July 2016 (Studi Kasus Filipina – Tiongkok) ”. Penelitian tesebut berdasarkan latar belakang isu permasalahan sengketa kedaulatan wilayah pada kawasan Laut Tiongkok Selatan yang tidak kunjung mereda antara negara Filipina kontra negara Tiongkok. Perebutan kawasan tersebut semakin memuncak pada bulan Juli 2016 pasca Award atau putusan dari Permanent Court of Arbitration dikeluarkan. Putusan tersebut berkaitan dengan pembagian wilayah Laut Tiongkok Selatan antara Filipina- Tiongkok. Faktanya, Filipina sengaja membawa kasus ini keranah arbitrase berdasarkan ANNEX VII dari United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), sedangkan Tiongkok, berpendapat bahwa Filipina melakukan pelanggaran hukum internasional dengan membawa sengketa ini ke ranah arbitrase tanpa persetujuan Tiongkok. Tiongkok menganggap bahwa Filipina tidak melaksanakan kewajibannya sesuai dengan perjanjian multilateral (Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea 2002 – DOC) antara Tiongkok dan negara-negara ASEAN (termasuk Filipina) mengenai penyelesaian sengketa Laut Tiongkok Selatan melalui perundingan secara langsung pada negara-negara yang bersangkutan. Tentu saja Tiongkok sangat menentang sikap Filipina yang membawa kasus ini pada jalur penyelesaian arbitrase.

jangka panjang di wilayah dan meningkatkan pemahaman di antara pihak yang berkepentingan. Berbeda dengan ASEAN Declaration on the South China Sea dan DoC, CoC sendiri diharapkan nantinya akan disusun sebagai dokumen yang mengikat para pihak dan memiliki sanksi yang berlaku bagi negara yang melanggar. Selain itu, jika di dalam ASEAN Declaration on the South China Sea pihak yang menandatangani adalah para Menteri Luar Negeri ASEAN dan pihak yang menandatangani DoC adalah Menteri Luar Negeri dan ASEAN dan Special Envoy Tiongkok, maka di dalam CoC terdapat wacana bahwa yang menandatangani adalah Kepala Negara/Pemerintahan masing-masing negara, sehingga CoC tersebut memiliki level yang lebih tinggi. Setelah hampir 15 (lima belas) tahun sejak kesepakatan penandatanganan DoC, pada 18 Mei 2017 ASEAN dan Tiongkok baru menyepakati Terms of Reference (ToR) CoC Framework. Pengesahan kerangka CoC ini diharapkan menjadi awal baik bagi ASEAN dan Tiongkok untuk dapat mengimplementasikan kode etik tersebut ke depannya, mengingat penyelesaian konflik Laut China Selatan secara damai

United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is thus expected to become a legal guideline for all claimants to comply with the peaceful dispute settlement. It is stated that every state has the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to a limit of 12 nautical miles, measured from baselines determined in accordance with this convention (UNCLOS, 1982). However, China has made new claim over the ‘’nine-dashed line” which embraces some 80% of the South China Sea is described as China’s historic waters. This claim has raised the awareness of its neighbors such as the Philippines and Vietnam as they believe that they too are entitled to benefit from the natural resources and other potentials of the region. Sovereignty claims and energy vulnerabil- ity become the two major factors which exacerbate the dispute. As a sea which holds a huge amount of potential energy resources, it becomes potentially one of the most protracted conflict zones in Asia Pacific, where both regional and international players try to assert their unequivocal primacy over the disputed area. There are at least six countries with interests at stake in the competing territorial and jurisdictional claims of the South China Sea; China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines. Among all claimants, China persistently displays the most aggressive behaviour proven by the military build-up and public statement by Chinese officials in regard to their reluctance to engage with external parties in the dispute such as the U.S. On the other hand, the U.S. argued that they have underwritten regional security for decades, patrolling Asia’s sea lanes and preserving stability, therefore their presence in playing a more contributing role in the region is needed (Clinton, 2015). Notwithstanding the fact that

However, that policy has severely affected Jakarta – Beijing diplomatic relations. Although Indonesia has scuttled 234 foreign vessels, Chinese vessels have enjoyed a special approach compared to other offenders. )n December , a large ship filled with Chinese crews was arrested by custom officers in Merauke and Papua, far from the South China Sea. When the Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Susi Pudjiastuti, decided that the vessel should be scuttled as an effort to enforce sanctions, her ministerial colleagues argued not to sink the vessel to avoid problems with China. Although the vessel was finally scuttled in May 2015, without any media coverage, this action was postponed until six months after the fishermen were captured. Indonesia has, meanwhile, had to manage its own tensions with Beijing regarding its behaviour in the South China Sea in the waters off Natuna (Connelly, 2015).

Beckman (2015) argued that the only other viable prospects for resolving the maritime boundary dis- putes in the South China Sea would be for the Claimant States to enter into Joint Development Agreements (JDAs) which spell out the right of the claimant states to exercise rights to resources in the areas subject to the JDAs. The basic principle is the countries’ agreement on a legal framework for explora- tion and production, including sharing fiscal revenues, while shelving their disputes over who actually owns the islands, rocks, shoals, and reefs in the area and the seabed mineral rights that come with sovereign owner- ship (Kemp, 2014). Establishing development agree- ment could be seen as the most delicate strategies to put the dispute aside and promote a mutually benefi- cial relation among claimants in the South China Sea. The concept of ’’setting aside dispute and pursuing joint development’’, introduced by China’s former Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping in 1978, suggested their country’s concern to enhance mutual understanding through cooperation and the creation of the eventual resolution of territorial ownership without simply giving up sovereignty (PRC, 2014).

Sebelum penulis menerangkan mengenai isi tuntutan dan putusan dari The South China Sea Arbitration Award of 12 July 2016 (selanjutnya disebut dengan Putusan LTS), penulis ingin menyampaikan bahwa pada pembahasan rumusan masalah pertama ini, penulis mengambil data melalui dokumen asli dari Putusan LTS yang diunduh melalui website resmi Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) pada tanggal 14 September 2016 pukul 10.51 WIB. 87 Negara yang menjadi peserta dalam Putusan LTS adalah negara Tiongkok dan Filipina. Putusan LTS merupakan putusan yang berfokus pada penyelesaian sengketa antar negara peserta mengenai status kepemilikan LTS, status geografis LTS, sah atau tidaknya aktivitas militer dilakukan di lokasi tersebut, hingga membahas mengenai sah atau tidaknya tindakan-tindakan yang telah dilakukan Tiongkok dalam usahanya menduduki LTS. Kedua negara telah meratifikasi UNCLOS, Filipina pada tanggal 8 Mei 1984 sedangkan Tiongkok pada tanggal 7 Juni 1996. Seperti yang telah dijelaskan penulis di bagian latar belakang, konvensi ini menjadi dasar hukum penyelesaian sengketa yang berkaitan dengan hukum laut (peaceful settlement of disputes). UNCLOS telah mengatur apabila para peserta UNCLOS gagal dalam menyelesaikan sengketa secara damai berdasarkan pilihan mereka sendiri, maka para pihak yang bersengketa dapat memilih salah satu dari empat prosedur penyelesaian sengketa yang disediakan UNLCOS, antara lain: 88

Similarly, Ralf Emmerson in 2007 argued that since the 1995 armed conflict between China and the Philippines, the situation in South China Sea has de-escalated due to several reasons: 1) perceptions of China has gradually changed among Southeast Asian elites resulting from moderation in China ’ s foreign policy of self-restraint and accommodation towards Southeast Asia. 2) The weakness of China ’ s power projection from the lack of extensive increased capability to sustain naval operations away from its mainland bases. 3) The inclusion of Vietnam as member of ASEAN adhering to the TAC principals. 4) Restraining from nationalism card from all claimants towards South China Sea dispute. 5) Limited proven oil reserves of the South China Sea and 6) involvement of the United States as a source of stability (Emmerson, 2007:12-16). This research focus-es to identify and elaborate the cause for tension on the South China Sea dispute to re-escalate after a decade of sustained peace, while assessing the effectiveness of ASEAN Way in man-aging the conflict, as well identifying how Indonesia plays its role.

Abstract Indonesia is not one of the claimant states, but Chinese provocation through its fishing vessels which escorted by Chinese Coast Guard has been violating Indonesia Exclusive Economic Zone on South China Sea which is intersected with Nine Dashed Line (NDL). Until now, the synergy among Indonesian power instruments to defend Indonesia’s sovereign rights is still weak, thus the problem identification in this research is how the synergy of the instrument of competent forces in the Indonesian maritime domain to face Chinese Claims on South China Sea. Synergy analysis is seen from three aspects: perspective, policy, and Rules Of Engangement (ROE) applied to operational. This research uses qualitative method to explore research questions deeper, with Soft System Methodology analysis method to approach problems with the comparison between system thinking and real world in a structured way, and supported NVivo to execute the process of data triangulation. Research results show that maritime power instruments of Indonesia do not have a

This study is a quantitative content analysis. Ker- linger (1973) defines it as a systematic, objective and quantitative process for the purpose of variable of measurement. In this study, the author wants to find out propaganda techniques performed by the mass media in Indonesia (Harian Kompas) and China (Xinhua News Agency). The population in this study is the entire news relevant to the South China Sea, including the problem of illegal fishing in Natuna Is- lands published in Harian Kompas and Xinhua News Agency in a two-month period from May 30 until July 30, 2016. This period is chosen because there was an illegal fishing carried out by Chinese boats at the end of May. The keywords used are “the South China Sea” and “Indonesia.” This study uses a total sam- pling, namely the entire population of the news from May 30 to July 30, 2016. There are 66 news articles from Harian Kompas and another 10 from Xinhua News Agency.

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Another reason is regional maritime conflicts in South China Sea, particularly conflicts in Spratly and Paracel Islands that involve China, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan. xxiv Regarding the involvement of China in this conflict, Southeast Asian countries see there is a possibility that China will use its forces to solve the dispute because China has been active and engaged its military force in the conflict area. Additionally, tensions have frequently happened between China and others countries that also claim Spratly Islands as part of their territory. xxv In 1998 former the Philippines Defense Secretary Orlando S. Mercado described the Chinese occupation and enlargement some structures in the Mischief Reef, Spratly Island as a strong indication of China’s “creeping invasion” of the “disputed South China Sea chain. xxvi Consequently, these all situations highlight Southeast Asian countries to give more attention over PLA’s modernization and see it as a potential threat for security in Southeast Asia.

The Indonesian Through Flow (ITF) is the connection between two oceanic basins in the tropical region, Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean. There are three Indonesian Through Flow (ITF) branches: the flow through the Makassar Strait; through the South China Sea; and through the eastern Indonesian basins (Du & Qu, 2010). In the South China Sea, the water exchanged between the Pacific Ocean and South China Sea within the depth range of the thermocline, later observations revealed that there is a Kuroshio branch toward the South China Sea both winter and summer and the intrusion of the North Pacific Tropical Water seems to occur during most. The South China Sea connects in the south with the Sulu and Java Seas through the Shallow Mindoro (-200 m) and Karimata (50m) straits dan in the north with East China Sea through the shallow Taiwan Strait (<100m) and with the Pacific Ocean through the deep Luzon Strait (>2000m) (Qu et al., 2009).

Analysis of confidence level was made by combining the RMSE, and the correlation coefficient value with simple formulation ½ (RMSE+(1-abs (corr.coef.))). Value obtained from the formulation shows level of confidence of Windwaves-05 model in calculating significant wave height where smaller values represent higher level of confidence and vice versa (Figure 3). From RMS error – correlation coefficient combination, it is known that the areas of the highest level of confidence throughout the year covered South China Sea, northern waters of Papua, Arafuru and Timor Sea. Though their RMS error were good, the worst value of RMS error – correlation coefficient combination were found in Malaka Strait, Tomini, Bay and Maluccas Sea. This had happened since the corelations were very poor in the areas.

70 In the vital needs of Japan to maintain its “Economic Well-being”, South China Sea serve as the main route of Japan’s energy imports from the Middle East and other country, which needs to pass South China Sea in order to reach Japan in the Eastern part of Asia. The abundant natural resource and potential hydrocarbon deposits in the area of South China Sea also become one of the consideration why Japan needs to involve in securing the South China Sea Region. Many of Japan’s off-shore and on-shore oil production assets were located in the claimed area of China’s 9-dashed line, thus China’s assertiveness in South China Sea poses a significant threat towards Japan’s economy. By supporting the countries that have been currently participating in the disputes with China, especially Philippines, Japan is actually securing is economy in indirect way and also maintaining the already established economic cooperation between Japan and the Southeast Asia Countries.