INTRODUCTION

Between late December 2019 and early January 2020, several Chinese fishing boats and coastguard vessels entered Indonesia's Natuna waters illegally, generating diplomatic tensions between Jakarta and Beijing. Indonesian newspapers reported on these incursions from an Indonesian perspective, as one would expect, and on 2 January 2020, Kompas, the largest newspaper in the country, published a report with the title “Indonesia Rejects China's Claims”. The following day, Tempo, a leading news magazine and daily newspaper, published a report with

a similar headline “Indonesia Clearly Rejects China's Claim Over the Northern Natuna Sea”. That same day, CNN Indonesia carried a provocative report with the headline “China's Vessels Enter Natunas, the Indonesian National Army Get Ready to Fight”. It is apparent that Indonesian official responses were not united on this issue. While some took a hard line, Luhut Pandjaitan, then Co-ordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs and Investment, and Prabowo Subianto, then Minister for Defence, downplayed the issue. In this tense situation, one question begged to be answered: What was the response of the Chinese-language newspapers in Jakarta to this event?

All the reports in Chinese-language newspapers on the event were translations from Indonesian-language sources. Interestingly, unlike during the 2016 Chinese incursions, this time they carried no commentaries on the Natunas, indicating caution on their part in expressing their views. Yindunixiya Shangbao (印度尼西亚商报) published a report on its front page with the title “Indonesia Strongly Rejects the Claims of China over the Nansha Islands”, which is the translation of the Indonesian foreign ministry statement. Yinni Xingzhou Ribao (印尼星洲日报) and Yinhua Ribao (印华日报) published a similar report on page 3. However, Guoji Ribao (国际日报), the largest Chinese-language newspaper in Indo-nesia, began to follow the events on the front page closely from 6 January 2020 for three days.

The first report was with the title “Luhut: Don't Play Up the Chinese Fishing Vessels Event”, showcasing their attempts to remain neutral.