President Joko Widodo inspecting fighter jets and weapons during a military exercise on Natuna Island. Photo: Beawiharta, Reuters/abs-cbn s the Asia Times noted in a recent article, formerly silent and neutral Indonesia has come out strongly against China’s bullying tactics in the South China Sea. The Asia Times reported that “following the intrusion of dozens of Chinese boats including two coast guard vessels into Indonesia’s claimed waters, Jakarta last month lodged a “strong protest” with Beijing and summoned its ambassador to Jakarta to express its diplomatic displeasure.” Chinese paramilitary vessels had strayed into the “coast of Indonesia’s Natuna Islands, a maritime area rich in oil, gas, and fisheries.” Those waters claimed by Indonesia overlap with the controversial nine-dash line China uses to claim sovereignty over most of the South China Sea. Jakarta immediately “lodged a ‘strong protest’ with Beijing and summoned its ambassador to express its diplomatic displeasure,” noted the Asia Times. Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who had previously kept silent on the matter of China’s outlandish South China Sea claims, was in no mood to give China a foothold in the waters off Natuna Islands. Indonesia’s foreign ministry cited the Philippines’ unanimous 2016 win in the International Court of Arbitration. That court ruled that China’s claims had “no legal basis” under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Widodo then mobilized his navy as well as hundreds of fishermen to face down the Chinese vessels in the disputed waters. A more recent article by Reuters noted that “In an unusually strong statement, President Joko Widodo told reporters: ‘There is no negotiation when it comes to our sovereignty.’” If those actions did not seem strong enough, Widodo also ordered four Indonesian F-16 fighter jets to conduct regular flights to patrol the Natuna Islands and its surrounding waters. The Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, and the other claimants to the Spratlys and parts of the South China Sea should stand up and take notice. The appeasement that President Rodrigo Duterte has engaged in since he became president has bought him and the Filipino people next to nothing. President Widodo is showing other Southeast Asians and us how to stand up to the Chinese bully in our midst. If Filipino leaders continue to prostrate themselves before Beijing and do nothing while China grabs more and more of what is ours, future generations of Filipinos might have nothing left to call their own. We must stand up to China’s aggression, no matter how powerful and mighty it may seem. Thank you President Widodo for showing us the way. Published 1/12/2020