Island Expansion is Discernibly Reasonable

Posted by AsiaViews | Jan 2, 2018 | 0 |

China Daily

26 Dec 2017
Worrywarts upset themselves by worrying about troubles of their own imagining, and trigger mass hysteria if they find receptive ears for their fears. This is what keeps happening with China’s so-called island building in the South China Sea.

This time it is a report by the overseas edition of People’s Daily－with the remark that the country’s permanent land area in the waters has “expanded conspicuously” after recent reclamation work－that seems to have given rise to the heebie-jeebies.

Not everyone likes China’s claim of sovereignty over those islands and reefs, and its construction of various facilities, including defensive and radar installations, is viewed with dismay and concern. Likewise, the increasingly frequent long-distance patrol flights conducted by the People’s Liberation Army Air Force have prompted all kinds of unnecessary speculation and interpretations.

However, as China’s interests are extending globally, it would be shirking its responsibility if it did not seek to guarantee its expanding economic presence with due defense arrangements in this way.

In the end, all the fuss boils down to a matter of mentality－some people just find China’s growing presence unsettling. Not least the United States, which views China’s activities in the South China Sea as a challenge to what President Donald Trump asserted was his country’s right to do as it pleased when he said, “We dominate the sky. We dominate the sea. We dominate the land and space,” while addressing US troops at Yokota Air Base in Japan at the start of his five-country visit to the region in November.

The US’ efforts to shore up its self-aggrandizing dominance in the region in response to China’s going out has led to its increasing militarization of the waters with its pivoting of US naval assets to the region and its habitual scare-mongering to bring its allies closer to heel.

But while there can be no denying China’s role in the region is growing, and increasingly butting up against that of the US, that is to be expected as it is now the world’s second-largest economy. And its growing influence is benefiting the region, as the ASEAN Foreign Ministers acknowledged at their meeting in August, welcoming the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ improved cooperation with China.

And it should be borne in mind that despite the various complaints and accusations of the US and some of its allies that have their own axes to grind, no detractor has actually nailed even one case of China obstructing freedom of navigation or overflight.

Such claims of concern about China’s activities in the South China Sea illustrate vividly how things can be twisted to convey a message that has no foundation in fact.

(source:http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201712/26/WS5a41952ea31008cf16da363c.html)

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EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD

Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.

“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”

Island Expansion is Discernibly Reasonable