海角大神

The destruction from the country鈥檚 bushfires has wrought a collective anguish that cuts across ideological lines. For the moment, at least, the unfolding catastrophe holds potential to act as a unifying force.

Policy makes strange bedfellows? The Middle East, a region of boundless conflict, has nevertheless brought two American presidents who could hardly be more different to the same conclusion: The U.S. needs to leave.

A big pro-gun rally planned Monday in Richmond, Virginia, is about more than Second Amendment rights. It鈥檚 also about ebbing political power due to demographic change, and worry about changing cultural attitudes.

The separation of religion and state is deeply dividing the Shiite world. On one side is the supreme leader of Iran, a theocracy. On the other, a grand ayatollah in Iraq. The tensions echo events on the ground.

Strong women dominate this month's book offerings, from the forgotten stories of iconic Harlem Renaissance writer Zora Neale Hurston to a retrospective exploring the women who shaped Virginia Woolf's world.

In 2018, President Donald Trump challenged China to improve rule of law when it comes to handling intellectual property. After a long tariff 鈥渨ar,鈥� he won an agreement with Beijing this week to better protect foreign patents in China.

In 2019, young people in Hong Kong took to the streets to preserve the territory鈥檚 legacy of rule of law from the kind of arbitrary law enforcement practiced in China. So far, they have won.

Now in 2020, it is Indonesia鈥檚 turn.

In early January, after dozens of Chinese fishing vessels and three Chinese coast guard vessels invaded Indonesia鈥檚 maritime economic zone 鈥� violating the 1982 United Nations Law of the Sea treaty 鈥� President Joko Widodo went into action. He deployed naval ships and F-16s to the North Natuna Sea to confront China over its intrusion. He visited the area and boarded one of the warships. After a tense standoff between the two forces, the Chinese flotilla withdrew.

While China has intruded on the waters 鈥� and even islands 鈥� of other Southeast Asian nations, nothing has been quite as dramatic as this incident. Indonesia, the world鈥檚 fourth most populous country, now seems more determined than ever to stand up for rule of law on the high seas, and for good reason. With more than 13,000 islands, it is the world鈥檚 largest archipelagic nation. It depends on other nations to honor its territorial integrity for the welfare of its shipping and fishing.

After this confrontation, Indonesia plans to intensify its collaboration with other Southeast Asian nations to ensure China honors the U.N. sea treaty as well as a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration that found China鈥檚 claims to much of the South China Sea to be illegal. It has also invited Japan, South Korea, and the United States to invest in its fishing industry to maintain a stronger presence around the Natuna Islands and to protect the country鈥檚 sovereign rights. Japan has offered to give three surveillance ships to聽Indonesia.

In its maritime expansion, China often overreaches, leading to close-call confrontations over islands or waters it claims. Among other nations in the region, the best defense so far has been to insist on enforcement of international law. The Law of the Sea treaty sets rules for nations to follow. Like the U.S. and the people of Hong Kong, Indonesia has won a key battle with China over rule of law. Such victories will only help reinforce the idea of world order relying more on agreed principles than on brute force.

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