After last year’s
jitters over Australia’s decision to allow the United States to use Darwin as a
base for the US Marines, Indonesia is due to question another similar move by
its neighbour.
This time, the issue at hand is the possibility that Australia may
allow the US to use Cocos Islands, located less than 3,000 kilometres southwest
of Jakarta, as a base for its spy planes.
Defence Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Hartind Asrin said on Wednesday
that in order to prevent any misunderstanding, Australia and the US should
clearly explain the aim of the planned base.
“In principle, we [Indonesia] did not have the authority to be involved
in their [Australia and the US’] plan, but we aim to ask them about their
intention to place spy drones near our territory,” he said.
He said efforts to clarify the issue would be based on maintaining
trust and confidence between Australia and the US.
“It is in our best interests to avoid any miscalculation or
misunderstanding in the field,” he said.
As reported by Reuters yesterday, Australia Defence Minister Stephen
Smith said the possible use of Australia’s remote Cocos Islands had been raised
with the United States, but the proposal was not under active consideration and
was not among any current plans by Canberra to strengthen military ties with
Washington.
“We view Cocos as being potentially a long-term strategic location. But
that is further down the track,” Smith said as quoted by Reuters.
The Washington Post said the US was interested in using Cocos Islands
as a new base for its surveillance aircraft, to conduct spy flights over the
disputed South China Sea (Spratly Islands), a territory claimed by China, the
Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan.
According to the Post, Cocos Islands could be ideal for not only manned
US surveillance aircraft but for Global Hawks — unarmed, high-altitude
surveillance drones. The US Navy is developing a newer version of the Global
Hawk, known as the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance drone, or BAMS, that is
scheduled to become operational in 2015.
The Indonesian Defence Ministry, however, brushed aside immediate
concerns that the spy aircraft would be a threat to the country’s defence.
“If we spot one and it has no permit, our fighter jets will intercept
it,” he said.
Chairman of the House of Representatives’ defence, intelligence and
foreign affairs commission, Mahfudz Siddiq, said if Australia decided to allow
the US to use the islands, it should at least notify Indonesia.
“If, eventually, there’s an impact upon us, Australia should
sufficiently explain the issue, although I understand it’s their territorial
affair. But, it will render suspicions on our part since the location is near
our border.”
Indonesia’s military has been cautious about Australia since November
last year when it forged a deal with the United States to use Darwin, located
less than 1,000 kilometres from Indonesia’s eastern territory, as a US military
base that would gradually accommodate more than 2,500 marines.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Michael Tene could not comment on the issue.
He did, however, insist that Indonesia maintained good relations with both
Australia and the US.
University of Indonesia (UI) security expert Andi Widjajanto said it
had been a plan by the US for some time to strengthen its influence in Asia
Pacific by establishing bases in Guam, Darwin and Singapore.
“Inevitably, our territory will be penetrated as the US drones are
relatively hard to detect, and they have non-stop surveillance capability,” he
said. Andi added that the US also had a legal advantage if it trespassed
Indonesia’s territory, as it had not ratified the 1982 UN Convention on the Law
of the Sea (UNCLOS), which could enable the US to take advantage of Indonesia’s
territorial gray areas, such as the Natuna Archipelago, located near the
disputed Spratly Islands.
Rabby Pramudatama and Margareth S. Aritonang
The Jakarta Post
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