September 5, 2023
JAKARTA – China’s new standardized map, which denotes its claims to sovereignty over a larger part of the disputed South China Sea, cast a pall on Jakarta ahead of the 43rd ASEAN Summit, as calls mount for the group to denounce Beijing’s claim.
With Indonesia chairing this week’s discussions, which will include an ASEAN-China Summit that has negotiated for a Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea, some lawmakers have urged the Foreign Ministry to take on a leadership role in setting the regional stance.
Last week, China released the map on its Natural Resources Ministry website, in which it claimed a massive proportion of the already-disputed South China Sea, as well as disputed regions in India’s Arunachal Pradesh state and Aksai Chin plateau. The map also claimed some parts of Malaysia’s maritime territory near Borneo and Taiwan, while extending its controversial “nine-dash line” into 10 lines.