Beijing is Angering its Only Friend in the Disputed South China Sea

May 28, 2016 | Ralph Jennings
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China has upset Asian neighbors from Japan to Vietnam by flexing harder than the rest on its claims to vast swathes of disputed oceans. But Asia’s third largest country, Indonesia, usually tolerates its brushes with Beijing to keep up prized economic ties.

Now China is pushing its only friend in the disputed oceans of East Asia to decide how much more it can take. China and Indonesia dispute sovereignty over a tract of water near the 272 Natuna Islands northwest of Borneo as they fall under Beijing’s nine-dash line claim for almost the entire 3.5 million-square-kilometer South China Sea. The Philippines takes such issue with that line that it appealed to a U.N. arbitration court, which is due any time to make a ruling. A Chinese offshore oil rig sparked riots in Vietnam two years ago and Beijing has flown aircraft near Japanese islets to assert a disputed claim east of Shanghai.