Top naval officers to meet

JAKARTA (JP): Top naval officers from 15 countries in the region will gather here next week to discuss issues of cooperation and conflict in the western Pacific Ocean.

Rear Admiral Arief Kushariyadi, the Indonesian Navy's deputy chief for operation, said the Aug. 15-16 meeting is also intended to build mutual confidence and trust among the naval forces grouped in the Western Pacific Naval Symposium.

The symposium members are Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, the United States and Vietnam.

Kushariyadi said Indonesia has also invited naval officers from China, France, Russia and Canada to take part as observers at the forum, the fourth to be held, Antara reported.

He said that the informal forum is expected to eliminate any remaining suspicion among those members who regard their neighbors' naval forces as a potential threat to security.

The forum is also expected to discuss possible solutions to current conflicts in the region, he said without elaborating.

The forum coincides with the gathering of more than 40 warships from various countries that will take part in a "Fleet Review" in Jakarta's Tanjung Priok harbor, held in conjunction with Indonesia's 50th anniversary.

Meanwhile, China's Liberation Army Daily reported yesterday that a fleet of three People's Liberation Army naval ships have left southern China to participate in Indonesia's independence celebrations, Reuters said.

The ships, a frigate, a destroyer and a tanker, steamed out of Zhanjiang, in southern Guangdong province, on Wednesday,

The flotilla, headed by Wang Yongguo, Rear Admiral and Commander of the South China Sea fleet, has come at the invitation of Jakarta, the newspaper said. (emb)