This is incredible.
The Indonesian government just sunk 41 (allegedly illegal fishing) ships!
From Today Online: (bold mine)
Indonesia yesterday sank a large Chinese vessel as well as 40 other foreign boats that had been caught fishing illegally in the country’s waters, a move likely to spark a strong reaction from Beijing and other regional capitals.The 300 gross tonne Chinese vessel was destroyed with a low-explosive device on its hull in West Kalimantan, said Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti.“This is not a show of force. This is just merely (us) enforcing our laws,” Ms Susi was quoted as saying by The Jakarta Post.The Gui Xei Yu 12661 is the first Chinese boat to be sunk since Indonesian President Joko Widodo declared war on illegal foreign fishing boats last December.The Indonesian Navy detained Gui Xei Yu in 2009 after it was caught fishing near the South China Sea, a hotly disputed area involving China and South-east Asian nations such as Malaysia and Vietnam.Besides the Chinese ship, the authorities also destroyed 40 other vessels in different places across the country. They included five boats from Vietnam, two boats from Thailand and 11 from the Philippines, The Post reported.Shortly after assuming office last October, Mr Widodo launched a campaign to protect Indonesia’s maritime resources and domestic fishing industry, which loses billions of dollars in revenues to illegal fishing each year. He has also pledged to transform Indonesia into a maritime power and, in December last year, orchestrated a much-publicised sinking of three empty Vietnamese vessels.Dozens of foreign vessels from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines have been sunk in recent months.
Wow.
Media will play up the China-Indonesia card as part of the escalation of territorial dispute.
But most of the brunt of the Indonesian government measures to “protect Indonesia’s maritime resources” has been her neighbors, particularly the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand.
Some questions
What if ALL of ASEAN resort to or copy the Indonesian government’s paradigm of blasting ships of intruders coming from their neighbors under the justification of protecting maritime resources?
What if the sinking of alleged illegal fishing ships expands more than just to protect maritime resources but uses such rational nevertheless?
What if there will be mistaken identity/ies from such actions?
So what stops ASEAN from degenerating into a battlefield or a hotbed for military skirmishes? A battlefield not necessarily with the Chinese government as participant.
And what if the Chinese government will be provoked to conduct the same exercise?
Will South China Sea serve as the cassus belli for a regional war or even World War III?
Whatever happens to ASEAN economic integration if territorial provocations becomes a key issue?
Or has the Indonesian government been diverting the public’s attention from her economic woes?
