Alatas calls for teamwork on Spratlys
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)