US proposal for Asian sea security cooperation gets no response
US proposal for Asian sea security cooperation gets no response
Agencies
Yogyakarta
In a clear sign of distaste, members of a regional security forum
on Wednesday gave no response to a U.S. proposal for regional
cooperation to combat sea piracy and terrorism threats in Asia-
Pacific waters, including the Strait of Malacca, during a forum's
meeting in Yogyakarta.
At the same gathering, Washington also had to back down on a
clause calling for the "denuclearization" of the Korean peninsula
in a draft statement made by the senior officials meeting of the
ASEAN Region Forum (ARF).
"The U.S. presented their idea... but there was no response. I
don't know what they will do with the proposal," said Indonesian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Marty A. Natalegawa.
He was speaking after a meeting of senior officials from the
23-member ARF. The forum includes the 10 states in the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) among its 23
members.
Indonesia instead proposed a seminar on maritime security and
Malaysia agreed to host it by the end of the year, Marty said,
adding that the U.S. had offered to be a co-sponsor.
"It's an in-house proposal. Indonesia and Malaysia recognize
all recent concerns. Our point has always been that all this has
to be done regionally, not something that is imposed from
outside," Marty said.
The U.S. proposal calls for sharing information on maritime
activities and cooperation to improve the capability of countries
to deal with threats such as piracy and terrorism, a Canadian
delegate said.
"The proposal does not call for a standing naval force or a
joint patrol," the delegate told AFP earlier on condition of
anonymity.
Marty said cooperation on maritime security was part of an
ASEAN security community proposed by Indonesia.
"One of the main elements is cooperation on maritime issues,
precisely to identify ideas and to have plans because otherwise
in this absence of ideas other countries come and force plans on
us," he said.
The top U.S. military commander in the Asia-Pacific, Admiral
Thomas Fargo, said last month that the U.S. was considering
deploying special forces in the Malacca Strait as part of its
counterterrorism efforts. However, the U.S. later said there was
no such plan.
Indonesia and Malaysia rejected the suggestion, saying only
the countries sited along the crucial waterway should protect it.
The U.S. also had to back down on a clause calling for the
"denuclearization" of the Korean peninsula.
"There was an intense debate on the ARF draft statement on
non-proliferation which was being made by the U.S.," said Makarim
Wibisono, director of Asia-Pacific Affairs at the Indonesian
Foreign Ministry which hosted the two-day meeting.
North Korea, a member of the ARF, objected to efforts made by
James Kelly, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asia and
Pacific affairs, to include a clause in the meeting's concluding
statement that called for a "denuclearization" of the Korean
peninsula as a crucial element for regional peace, said Wibisono.
After separate discussions between the senior ministers of
North Korea, China, the U.S. and Indonesia, it was decided to
drop the clause and replace it with a call for further talks
between the six parties currently involved in the non-
proliferation debate in North Korea.
The North Korean senior official attending the ARF meeting
complained that the U.S.'s clause on "denuclearization" was
biased, said Wibisono.
Kelly was not immediately available for a comment.
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