Explainer | South China Sea: why Malaysia and Indonesia differ in countering Beijing’s maritime claims

While Kuala Lumpur has taken a robust approach, continuing to develop the Kasawari gas field and even scrambling jets, Indonesia’s approach appears to be more cautious

Some experts say it’s related to Chinese investment and Covid-19 aid; some say it’s about rejecting ‘megaphone diplomacy’; while others wonder if Indonesia has a set policy at all

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A Malaysian Navy ship takes part in an exercise in the South China Sea. Photo: DPA

Published: 12:30pm, 28 Oct 2021Updated: 10:36am, 5 Nov 2021

For the past two years, Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas oil company has continued developing a gas field in the disputed South China Sea, despite what a US-based think tank recently described as “daily harassment” from Chinese boats.

The country is unwilling to budge over its interests in the Luconia Shoals, where it is developing the massive Kasawari gas field – thought to contain 3 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas resources – and its uncompromising stance is typical of its approach to China’s overlapping claims in the disputed waters.

In June, it scrambled fighter aircraft when it detected 16 Chinese military transport jets flying close to Malaysian air space without prior notification, later summoning the Chinese ambassador Ouyang Yujing for an explanation.

Neighbouring Indonesia has also been vocal in the past about what it sees as Chinese incursions into its waters. In 2019, it filed diplomatic notes opposing what it called the encroachment of Chinese fishing vessels into the Natuna Sea, which Indonesia claims as part of its exclusive economic zone, but parts of which China claims to have historic fishing rights over. Indonesia is not party to the dispute over the South China Sea involving China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

Yet to some observers, Indonesia’s approach has taken a cautious turn of late, particularly in regard to an incident on August 31 when a Chinese survey vessel, the Haiyang Dizhi 10, entered the North Natuna Sea near an important oil and gas field known as the Tuna Block. The ship, which appeared to be making a seismic survey, left briefly in September and returned in early October before leaving the waters about a week ago.