U.S. helps secure Strait of Malacca

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

As part of its campaign against terrorism, the United States said on Wednesday it was committed to providing assistance for the littoral states responsible for guarding the crucial Strait of Malacca, but stressed that the offer was contingent on the sovereign decisions of the countries.

"The United States is interested in seeing how we might be able to contribute to supporting this very important effort," the U.S. director of Asia-Pacific affairs, Brig. Gen. John Allen, said in a press conference marking the end of two days of talks on security between Indonesia and the U.S.

Allen was commenting on the results of a ministerial meeting on Tuesday between the three littoral states -- Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore -- in Batam, Riau island, as they welcomed cooperation from neighboring countries and the strait's user countries in a bid to improve security and safety in the channel.

"(Of course) we would have to see the agreement and see the request that might be made by the United States. The U.S. is very interested in helping to build up capacity ... and we understand the critical importance of the fact that the littoral states play their roles in providing maximum security in the Strait of Malacca.

"Certainly with the respect of the region, we would do our best to provide maximum assistance to create transparency and confidence. We are very interested in seeing how we might be able to contribute to the (security) efforts," said Allen, who also led the U.S. delegation during the security talks.

The Strait of Malacca, linking the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea, is a narrow 600-kilometer stretch of water used by more than 50,000 commercial ships each year, and carries more than one-third of global shipping trade and one-half of the world's crude oil shipments. All of Japan's crude oil needs are transported through the strait. South Korea and China also rely extensively on crude supplies shipped through it.

But the strait has been plagued by rampant pirate attacks for the past several years.

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, the U.S. has also expressed concerns about the possibility of terrorists using the Strait of Malacca to launch their attacks, using local pirates to help their cause -- a scenario that could affect the world economy.

Singapore had once suggested asking the U.S. to help patrol the Strait of Malacca, but both Indonesia and Malaysia quickly denounced the idea, saying that this would entail questions of sovereignty. The latter countries have also said that any outside help should take the form of technical assistance to boost the capacity of the littoral states in guarding the strait.

Apart from the U.S., assistance has also been offered by China, which is now considered to be a prominent rival of the U.S. and to be spreading its political influence in Asia and the world.

During the press conference, Allen again reaffirmed the absolute support of his government for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Indonesia.

His statement came amid rising concerns at home after the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill in June that, if it becomes law, would create strong international pressure for the independence of resource-rich Papua.