From the past few months, tension in the South China Sea has been rising. On July 13, 2020, the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a press statement reaffirmed the United States’ commitment in the Indo-Pacific and rejected Beijing’s claims on the offshoring of resources in most of the South China Sea. Secretary Pompeo noted that the PRC has been “bullying” Southeast Asian claimants like the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. On the other side, the Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian called out the United States for its “intensified meddling” in the South China Sea maritime disputes, and accused the US as using the South China Sea issue as a “geopolitical game. In the middle of China and the United States’ disputes, Indonesia just recently conducted a four-day exercise in the area, which was noted by observers as a “major show of force” against Chinese claims to the area and for CCG vessels that have repeatedly trespassed Indonesia’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

FPCI would like to thank the EU Ambassador to ASEAN, H.E. Igor Driesmans, for his insightful and detailed presentation on the European Union’s history and establishment, its interest and values, as well as its multilateralism agenda during the 4th #FPCIAmbassadorialLecture that was held on Monday, August 10th, 2020.

On July 20th, 2020, FPCI and the Delegation of the European Union to Indonesia conducted the 3rd FPCI Ambassadorial Lecture with H.E. Vincent Piket. The Ambassador gave us insights and updates on Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic.