Workshop on South China Sea
The workshop on Managing Conflicts in the South China Sea has been held six times in Indonesia. The workshop -- initially intended to set aside any territorial disputes into peaceful and beneficial cooperation among the claimant countries: Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam toward the potential rich reserves of oil and natural gas -- is very meaningful for the Confidence Building Measures (CBM) among claimant countries.
Moreover, the Indonesian government's efforts in attracting the claimant countries to talk and discuss potential cooperations through peace in a cooperative manner is admitted as a positive and productive contribution toward maintaining peace and security in the region.
Although the results of these workshops have no chance of immediate implementation by the respective claimant countries, they will be submitted by the participants -- most of them are senior government officials taking part in private rather than official capacity -- to their respective governments and the recommendations will be adopted as a policy pertinent to the ideals of the workshop.
Personally, I see that these workshops have a number of good points:
1. In the post cold war period where balancing power is considered relevant, Indonesia's initiation of the meeting, by facilitating the claimant countries to set aside the seed of confrontation, will certainly contribute toward more balanced power in the region. In particular by reducing and avoiding hostilities that could be more harmful to the region if force was used.
2. The substance of the ongoing workshop is seen as productive, such as marine cooperation leading to the development of marine technology with its economic benefits.
3. The holding of the workshop is in accordance with establishing international law, in particular the internationally recognized UNCLOS 1982, which is close to the objective of article 301, part XVI, in the way of promoting international cooperation. It will contribute to implementation of the UNCLOS 1982 and will indirectly make the provisions on the UNCLOS familiar among the international participants.
For these positive points the workshops should be considered as an important step and deserve to be followed by the political will of the claimant countries in their respect for the noble objectives of peace and security in the region.
AMAR MAKRUF
Depok, West Java