Synergy sought to solve South China Sea rift
PACET, West Java (JP): Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas suggested yesterday the possibility of finding cohesion between the parallel tracks seeking to find a solution to the overlapping disputes in the South China Sea.
Speaking at the opening of the eighth Workshop on Managing Potential Conflicts in the South China Sea, Alatas said the number of parallel processes could work in "synergy" with each other.
"It would be worthwhile exploring the possibility of achieving synergy between the first track diplomacy within the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and ASEAN-China dialog and the second track diplomacy through the workshop process," he said.
The workshop brings together officials, experts and academicians, primarily from the disputing parties, coming together in a private capacity.
The South China Sea, said to contain rich natural reserves, is being claimed in part or in whole by Brunei, Malaysia, The Philippines, the People's Republic of China, China-Taipei and Vietnam.
Some 100 participants are taking part in this year's workshop held in the scenic mountain area 75 kilometers south of Jakarta.
Indonesia holds the workshop annually, aiming to bring the conflicting parties together in a spirit of cooperation.
The workshop, co-organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Agency for Research and Development, the Southeast Asia Research Center and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, is considered a second-track approach.
The first-track approach involves a more formal venue such as the ASEAN Regional Forum and the ASEAN-China dialog.
Alatas urged the workshop yesterday to move into more concrete areas of cooperation.
He said participants should look beyond theoretical agreements on projects to their practical implementation.
"I think after eight workshops and after having spent so much time and effort... it is now time for us to move into practical cooperative efforts," Alatas said.
The workshop is expected to review the progress made by various Technical Working Groups and the Group of Experts Meeting in various fields such as marine scientific research, marine environmental protection, shipping and legal matters.
Although Indonesia is not one of the disputing parties, its stake in the peace and stability in the area is as great and as crucial as any of the claimants, Alatas said.
"Indonesia's security and the perpetuation of whatever economic dynamism it has achieved depends to a great degree on the maintenance of peace and stability in the South China Sea area," he said. (10)