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“Thank you to the Chinese government for assistance in the sinking of KRI Nanggala 402,” said Sukamta representing the name of the Indonesian people in his written statement to SINDOnews, Tuesday (11/5/2021).
In addition, Sukamta reminded the Ministry of Defense, TNI, BAIS and other stakeholders related to defense to be aware of the objectives behind the Chinese warships that have been occupying Indonesia recently.
The legislator from the Yogyakarta Special Region electoral district explained several relevant incidents related to Indonesian maritime security and data, so that vigilance must be increased in any situation.
“Several times we have found a sea glider suspected of belonging to China without permission, it is suspected that it is collecting data on the Indonesian sea. These are only a few that have been caught, which could be more,” said the deputy chairman of the PKS faction of the DPR RI.
He added that his statement that every foreign military movement must be watched out for, including when humanitarian operations including the Chinese Navy’s assistance to Indonesia in handling KRI Nanggala-402. Sukamta said, the two ships, namely Xing Dao-863 and Ocean Tug Nantuo-185, were rescue and ship lift vessels, so it was right when helping to lift Nanggala 402.
“However, the Scientific Salvage Tan Suo 2 ship is a scientific research vessel operating under the Institute of Deep Sea Science and Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to be aware of. This ship can carry out a dual task of assisting in lifting the Nanggala 402 as well as collecting data about the Indonesian sea,” He said
He also gave notes related to the joint warship training between the Indonesian Navy and the Chinese Navy. He said that joint exercises were important for mutual understanding and communication between countries.
“However, we note whether this warship exercise will provide insight when each party is tasked with guarding the country’s maritime borders? Or will this exercise open up opportunities for data collection about the sea and the strength of the Indonesian Navy’s defense equipment?” he said.
In addition, in the last few weeks Chinese warships have arrived in Indonesia amidst heated relations between China and the United States and its ally, Australia, of course with political intentions. There are allegations that the Australian ship deliberately left the KRI Nanggala 402 early because it did not want to have direct confrontation or the data on the warship Australia was using.
“The activities of Chinese warships in Indonesian territory certainly give the impression of the international community about Indonesia’s position. Indonesia must act freely and actively, not to be dragged into the US-China conflict,” said Sukamta.
He also invited the Indonesian government, the TNI, to ensure the security of Indonesia’s marine data and not get caught up in the conflict in the South China Sea. Just to note, the ships used by the Chinese Navy in joint training with the Indonesian Navy are the Liuzhou 573 (FFGHM) and Suqian 504 (FSGHM) warships which are a type of ship for marine patrols and are often found encroaching on the Natuna Sea.
In addition, some time ago a joint exercise between the US, Japan, India and Australia took place in the Indian Ocean.
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