AN ANALYSIS OF THE SOUTH CHINA SEA CONFLICT: INDONESIA’S PERSPECTIVES, CONTEXTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The South China Sea have been discussing seriously. Historically, the conflict had started fromthe contested area between France and Japan, until the outcome Second World War-powervacuum. None of the international documents provides clarity of sovereignty in the South ChinaSea. China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Brunei Darussalam are thosecountries who have an overlapping territorial claim that are currently emerging are more due toeconomic, geostrategic, and domestic politics. As a non-claimant state, Indonesia has a role tofacilitate and solving the conflict, because Indonesia's water, the North Natuna Sea, also has anarea that is an incision on territorial claims. The alignment of ZEEI and the Nine-Dash Line haseconomic implications and regional defense setting. This article uses the qualitative analysismethod to explore three purposes. First is to explore the historical, philosophy and legal-approachin discussing the background of the conflict. Second is to analyze the attitudes and perspectives ofIndonesia's strategic position in the South China Sea. Third is to propose some possiblerecommendations that Indonesia needed to resolve SCS conflicts with the roles and actionsrequired for international and regional purposes. Indonesia, as a non-claimant state, has a role ofdiplomacy as a mediator, honest broker, and confidence builder in the handling of the South ChinaSea conflict.