Govt to be proactive in South China Sea settlement

JAKARTA. The Indonesian government must play a greater role in supporting the resolution of South China Sea disputes that involve China and four ASEAN member countries, an expert has said.

"Indonesia must be proactive in helping to settle this problem by working out a closer dialogue and cooperation with China and ASEAN," Indonesian Council on World Affairs (ICWA) executive council head Ibrahim Yusuf said as quoted by Antara in Jakarta on Thursday.

He said that during this time Indonesia had not yet held a intensive dialogue with China to produce a decision that could facilitate the interests of all parties involved in the South China Sea disputes.

"The Indonesian government has so far focused only on discussing the issue at the ASEAN level, resulting in the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) 2020 and Code of Conduct documents which have not yet been approved by the Chinese government," Ibrahim said.

ICWA considers the South China Sea problems strategic issues and these must be resolved not only from the legal point of view but also the economic.

"China has a high dependence on the South China Sea because it is the oil sea-transportation route of the country," said Ibrahim.

The South China Sea conflicts involve China and four ASEAN countries, namely Brunei Darussalam, Myanmar, Vietnam and the Philippines. They all claim territorial authority over their respective areas, sparking increasingly tense relations among the countries.

On Jan.29, the Philippines government accused a Chinese coastguard patrol of having intentionally hit three Philippine-flagged fishing vessels in the Spratly Islands, a disputed area in the South China Sea.

Indonesia is a non-claimant state in the South China Sea. The National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) said, however, the conflict would affect Indonesia as it had territorial control over Natuna Island, especially Natuna Block A in the South China Sea.