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Chinese coast guard patrols proposed Indonesian gas field

Radio Free Asia

A Chinese Communist Party (CCP) coast guard ship patrolled around Indonesia’s Natuna Islands in the South China Sea just as Jakarta approved a plan to develop an offshore gas field there, ship tracking data showed.

CCG 5901, the world’s largest coast guard vessel, entered the area December 30, 2022, according to the data. In early January 2023, the Indonesian government passed the first development plan for the Tuna Block, which is within Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) but also inside the arbitrary nine-dash line that the CCP uses to claim historical rights over most of the South China Sea.

In December 2022, Indonesia and Vietnam concluded talks on the boundaries of their EEZs, a move likely to irk the CCP as the two countries’ claims lie within the widely rejected nine-dash line.

Chinese coast guard vessels have been patrolling the area to back “Beijing’s ridiculous claims in the South China Sea,” said Satya Pratama, a senior Indonesian government official who was a captain with the nation’s Maritime Security Agency, known as Bakamla.

The presence of the CCG 5901 may signal a step up in the CCP’s assertiveness.

Indonesia’s Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Task Force (SKK Migas) has approved the plan to develop the Tuna Block oil and gas field, which involves an initial investment of nearly U.S. $3 billion, according to spokesman Muhammad Kemal.

Indonesia began exploratory drilling in the field 10 years ago, Kemal said, adding that it is expected to achieve a “peak production of 115 million standard cubic feet [3.3 million cubic meters] per day in 2027.”

Natural gas from the field is planned to be exported to Vietnam beginning in 2026 and may bring an annual income of U.S. $1.24 billion, Kemal said.

The CCP has not protested against the Tuna Block development plan, but SKK Migas Chairman Dwi Soetjipto said there will be activities “in the border area which is one of the world’s geopolitical hot spots.”

Soetjipto said the Indonesian Navy would “participate in securing the upstream oil and gas project,” which can be seen as “an affirmation of Indonesia’s sovereignty,” Reuters reported.

The Tuna Block is 13 kilometers from the Vietnamese EEZ, and the area is frequented by Chinese law enforcement and fishing vessels.

A United Nations tribunal in 2016 invalidated the nine-dash line, but Beijing has rejected the ruling.

Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam have accused the People’s Republic of China of disrupting their oil and gas exploration, with frequent incursions by Chinese coast guard and maritime militia ships sparking confrontations. (Pictured: A Chinese coast guard ship patrols near a Vietnam Marine Guard vessel in the South China Sea.)

In 2021, Chinese survey ships and coast guard vessels loitered for almost a month in the North Natuna area, where Indonesia’s oil and gas exploration was underway.

IMAGE CREDIT: AFP/GETTY IMAGES

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