East Timor and Australia: Strategic Aspects of Cooperation and the Timor Gap Problem

ЮГО-ВОСТОЧНАЯ АЗИЯ: АКТУАЛЬНЫЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ РАЗВИТИЯ, 2023, №4(60), 172-179

 
Annotation: The border between East Timor and Australia, which runs through the waters of the Timor Sea, has long been the subject of disputes, conflict situations and even litigation. Problem of the Timor Sea is complicated by the fact that the continental shelves of Asia and Australia "overlap" at this point, which caused disputes about the ownership of these waters between Australia, Indonesia and the East Timor. There are large oil and gas deposits in the Timor Sea. In addition, the sea Asia is naturally an important transport corridor, the control of which is important in economic and military-strategic relations. These circumstances significantly complicate the negotiation process. The problem of the Timor gap has become one of the reasons for support Canberra's Indonesian invasion of East Timor and still significantly affects Australian-East Timorese relations. The article examines bilateral relations through the prism of attempts to solve the problem of border demarcation and resource allocation in the Timor Sea.

Keywords: Timor Sea, Australia, East Timor, maritime law