Jakarta: Australia and Indonesia are considering joint patrols in the highly sensitive South China Sea amid escalating tensions in the region over the hotly-contested waters.
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China claims almost all of the South China Sea, through which about $US5 trillion worth of maritime trade passes each year, but five other countries have conflicting claims.
Indonesian Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said he had proposed a "peace patrol" with Australia in the South China Sea to "bring peace" and combat illegal fishing when the two countries' defence ministers met in Bali last week.
"It's a joint patrol or coordinated patrol, it's the same thing," Mr Ryamizard told reporters. "There are no intentions to disrupt the relationship (with China). It is called a peace patrol, it brings peace. It is about protecting fish in each other's areas."
Defence Minister Marise Payne told Fairfax Media the ministers had agreed to explore options to increase maritime cooperation.
"This could include coordinated activities in the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea consistent with Australia's policy of exercising rights of freedom of navigation in accordance with international law and our support for regional security," she said.
Foreign policy experts have warned joint patrols could antagonise China, which has built up military facilities in the South China Sea and built artificial islands on reefs to buttress its territorial claims.
An international tribunal in The Hague ruled in July that China's claim to almost all of the strategically important and resource-rich waters of the China Sea was unfounded.
Australia vowed to continue to exercise the right of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea after the ruling.
However China rejected the ruling and in September carried out its first joint military exercise with Russia in the South China Sea, which commentators suggested might indicate the onset of a cold war in the region.
The Philippines' recent "separation" from the US and announcement it would negotiate directly with China over disputed territory also has other claimant countries spooked.
Indonesia is not officially a claimant in the South China Sea, but waters surrounding the Natuna Islands fall within both Indonesia's exclusive economic zone and the so-called "nine-dash line" on which China bases its claim over most of the South China Sea.
Indonesia has clashed several times this year with Chinese fishing vessels in the disputed waters.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the issue of the South China Sea had been raised at every meeting she attended in Jakarta last week, including with Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
"We discussed the South China Sea, the development with the Philippines," she said.
"Australia and Indonesia are very aligned in terms of our approach to the disputes over land and islands and other structures in the South China Sea," Ms Bishop said. "We are not claimant states, we do not take sides."
Ms Bishop said both countries called for a de-escalation of tensions and for all negotiations to be conducted peacefully and in accordance with international law.
"We call for the rules-based order to be supported so there can be peace and stability in the South China Sea," she said last week.
Senator Payne said Australia and Indonesia already conducted coordinated patrols and other joint activities and exercises.
In May the countries held a coordinated maritime security patrol in the Timor Sea to combat maritime security threats including illegal fishing and people smuggling.
"The 2016 Defence White Paper highlights the importance of Defence working with regional partners to build maritime security cooperation," Senator Payne said.
"Australia consults with regional partners, including Indonesia, on potential opportunities for cooperation in order to contribute to security in the region."
Lowy Institute research fellow Aaron Connelly said Indonesia had been reluctant to do anything with other countries in the South China Sea, because it didn't want to be perceived to be taking sides in the dispute.
He said coordinated activities with Australia could be seen as sending a message to China, particularly if they were held in sensitive areas such as around the Natuna or Spratly islands.
University of Indonesia defence expert Connie Rahakundini Bakrie warned China would be provoked unless Indonesia also conducted patrols with China.
"If this is not done, and there are only joint patrols with Australia, it will be seen as blocking China. We would be provoking it because it would mean Indonesia is taking sides," she said.
But Melda Kamil Ariadno, an international law expert from the University of Indonesia, said a joint patrol would strengthen the security of the South China Sea as an international navigation route.
"The area cannot be claimed one-sidedly as belonging only to one country," she said. "China should see that there is nothing China can do except immediately discuss the Code of Conduct (on the South China Sea) as soon as possible."
with Karuni Rompies
