Southeast Asia has become a testing ground for the rise of the Chinese Communist Party and one of the battlegrounds for strategic confrontation between Beijing and Washington. The Chinese Communist Navy recently participated in assisting Indonesia in the recovery of a wrecked submarine, which some experts believe will help the Communist forces study the waters in question, while the United States has just concluded a video dialogue with ASEAN, stressing that it will strengthen cooperation with ASEAN to jointly address the challenges it faces.
The Indonesian submarine KRI Nanggala402 wrecked and sank in the waters off Bali last month, killing all 53 officers and men on board. The Indonesian Navy has confirmed that three Chinese naval vessels have arrived in northern Bali to assist in the salvage, namely the ocean-going salvage lifeboat “Yongxingdao-863”, with robotic equipment, sonar, mini-submersible; the ocean-going tugboat “South Tug-185” can assist in the salvage of In addition, the Chinese Navy also sent 48 divers to assist.
However, there are concerns about whether this rescue operation will increase the control of the Communist forces over the waters. Foreign media reported that the official Chinese media Global Times quoted unnamed submarine experts as saying that the Communist forces could use this to study the naval military geography of the waters and to expand the international influence of naval rescue.
Assistance in Salvage Won’t Change Local Perceptions of Communist China
Gregory B. Poling, director of the Asian Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington think tank, told the station that the Communist forces will certainly use the operation to collect bathymetric data that will benefit future Communist naval operations in the region.
Poling stressed that Beijing is working to expand its soft power and influence internationally, but assisting in the salvage of ships will not fundamentally change the perception of the Chinese Communist Party by most people in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.
“The CCP’s long-term goals raise suspicion and anxiety among local people.” Poling said.
The Communist Party’s recent moves in the South China Sea have not only caused discontent in the Philippines over the presence of more than 200 ships on Niuyu Reef, but have also led to numerous disputes with neighboring countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia over the sovereignty of various islands and reefs.
Joshua Kurlantzick, a senior fellow on Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a U.S. think tank, said the rescue operation was welcomed by Indonesia but would not have much impact on the image of the Chinese Communist Party. The Chinese Communist Party’s image will not be affected too much.
“The overall image of the Chinese Communist Party in Indonesia is very problematic, for example, in the South China Sea, where it always acts aggressively, and so on, which is probably more important in Indonesian public opinion than the salvage of the ship,” Kurlantzick said. Kurlandzik said.
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