Memo does not involve South China Sea issue

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian government said yesterday that the memo it had sent to the Chinese government was on China's recent declaration of its new sea baselines, which did not touch on the disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea.

"The memo we sent is about the drawing of baselines in the northern part (of the South China Sea) and along the coast of the Chinese mainland," Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas told journalists yesterday.

Alatas said that one should not mix the Indonesian aide memoire (memo) with South China Sea issues as had been wrongly reported by some news media. The memo was sent earlier this month.

Alatas made his comments at the end of a joint news conference involving foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their dialog partners from Western countries and Asian powers. The news conference was held after the conclusion of their annual meeting yesterday.

Four of the seven member countries of ASEAN -- Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam -- have all claimed the Spratlys wholly or in part.

The disputes over the island groups, believed to be rich in oil and mineral deposits, are often viewed as a potential threat to regional security and stability.

On Wednesday, Malaysia's Foreign Minister Abdullah Badawi, who represented ASEAN in a dialog with China, said he had also questioned his Chinese counterpart, Qian Qichen, on the issue.

"China's declaration of May 15, 1996, on its baselines have raised some questions in ASEAN. We hope to receive some clarification from China on this declaration and what it means," Badawi said in a statement.

China's foreign ministry spokesman, Shen Guofang, told The Jakarta Post yesterday that the baselines were drawn within Chinese sea territory according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

"Foreign Minister Qian had also informed his counterparts during bilateral meetings with ASEAN members," Shen said, adding that it was within China's sovereignty to delineate the baselines of its territorial waters.

He said that China had announced only part of its territorial waters due to technical and complicated factors in some areas which concern some countries and the Chinese government. "We will make further announcements after our experts have completed their tasks," he said.

Alatas said that although no date had been set, China would be willing to discuss its new baselines in a meeting of its experts and experts from ASEAN countries. (ego)