Alatas calls for teamwork on Spratlys
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said yesterday that the workshop on the Spratly islands, due to begin in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, today, will not be institutionalized.
"There is no need to institutionalize it because what we really need is cooperation to solve a dispute over the islands," Alatas told reporters after meeting President Soeharto at Merdeka Palace.
He said many participants of the three-day workshop have shown their intention to cooperate.
"We think if they agree on some programs, it could be done between the governments of all participating countries," Alatas said. "We can't formalize the workshop itself, but some form of cooperation can be formalized."
The workshop, which will discuss the dispute and seek ways to avoid conflicts in the South China Sea, is the fifth to be hosted by Indonesia.
The informal meeting will be attended by officials and experts from 11 countries, including the six claimants -- China, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.
Host country Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore and Thailand will also be represented.
Alatas said the workshop is part of a process to prevent conflicts over the overlapping claims on the Spratlys, which straddle one of the world's busiest seaways.
Alatas expressed the hope that the Bukittinggi workshop can further yield positive results because understandings have been reached at past meetings on possible cooperation in controlling pollution, increasing security and in meteorological and marine research.
Other possible areas for cooperation are oil and gas exploration, he added.
Alatas said the cooperation may be done through inter- department or inter-state ministerial office programs.
Common view
He said the six disputing countries have already arrived at a common view that armed conflicts or violence will not solve the problem. They have dismissed the view of several security analysts that the potentially oil-rich islands could become a flashpoint for armed conflicts.
China and Vietnam have sent their troops to one of the islands several times to demonstrate their legitimate right to the region.
China has called for joint development of the Spratlys, a cluster of 60 islets claimed wholly or in part by the six countries.
Regarding oil reserves in the region, Alatas said that no profound studies had been made to confirm the potential.
"We have agreed to form a working group to study the possible oil and gas deposits there because at the moment only oil reserves are estimated to be there," Alatas said. (bas)