AMANDA HODGE & NIVELL RAYDA | The Australian
SYDNEY - Indonesia is eyeing nervously plans by Australia and the US to upgrade Papua New Guinea’s Lombrum naval base, a key US staging post during World War II, with policymakers warning it could further escalate tensions in the region.
Earlier this month Abdul Kharis Almasyhari, chairman of Indonesia’s parliamentary commission on defence, security and foreign affairs, urged President Joko Widodo to lobby against the PNG naval base, which he said would “increase political tensions” and that foreign powers should not “militarise the Asia-Pacific”.
Indonesia’s Defence Ministry has said Canberra should brief it on its plans, noting that “no one can forbid them from doing what they are doing, as long as it is not built in our territory”.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir also told The Weekend Australian the government did not have a clear picture of plans for the Lombrum base, and could not take a position until it did.
“The essence of what the MPs are saying is they want to ensure there is no power projection in the region and that there is continued stability, and that is in line with our foreign policy,’’ he said.
But other MPs have also spoken against it, including politicians from within the ruling coalition government who fear tensions between China and the US — currently engaged in a trade war and ongoing struggle for regional supremacy — could spill into conflict.
Satya Widya Yudha, a government-aligned MP and deputy chair of the parliamentary commission, said: “The parliament regrets the plan to build a military base in Papua New Guinea just like we regret China’s plan to build a military base in one of the islands in the Pacific.
“We feel that all countries should prioritise diplomacy and not exert military control which could destabilise the region. The Pacific Ocean is a major trade route which should be accessible to all.
“The presence of a military base will lead to an escalation of tensions and eventually disrupt trade relations and security on a global scale.”
A parliamentary spokesman for Mr Jokowi’s People’s Democratic Party of Struggle described the plan as a “worrying development that could threaten regional stability”.
Evan Laksmana, a senior researcher with Jakarta’s Centre for Strategic and International Studies, says while Indonesia-Australia defence co-operation has increased in recent years, Australian strategic planning “should not assume passive neutrality on the part of Indonesia in thinking about a future regional conflict”.
“Indonesia has a direct stake in ensuring stability in the archipelagic sea lanes that facilitate navigation from the Timor Sea and Arafura Sea to the Pacific Ocean through the Seas of Sawu, Banda, Seram, and Maluku,’’ he said.
“Any military conflict involving the US, Australia and China would also have to ‘go through’ Indonesia’s strategic geography one way or another,” he wrote in the Lowy Institute’s Interpreter website this week.
Canberra was already upgrading the Lombrum base on Manus Island in collaboration with the PNG government when US Vice-President Mike Pence announced at the APEC conference in Port Moresby last month that Washington would join the effort.
The joint redevelopment of Lombrum — built by the US in 1944 — would provide a handy refuelling stop but, more critically, a strategic maritime surveillance point for both countries as China continues to build up its presence across the Pacific islands.
It follows months of speculation that Beijing was interested in building its own deepwater port on Manus, and amid concerns over China’s increasing economic influence over Pacific Island nations.
To counter that, prime minister Scott Morrison last month unveiled a new Pacific pivot policy, including a $2 billion regional infrastructure fund.