Indonesia ready to help finalize South China Sea code

INDONESIA is ready to work with other Southeast Asian countries to finalize a long-delayed code of conduct in the South China Sea, the country’s foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, said yesterday during a joint briefing with Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo.

The briefing came hours before the arrival of Indonesian President Joko Widodo who will be on a three-day official visit to Manila.

“On the South China Sea, Indonesia is ready to work together with all ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member states including the Philippines to finalize the code of conduct as soon as possible,” Retno said.

“Jakarta is also ready to work with ASEAN countries to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea,” she added.

The ASEAN and China have for years been trying to create a framework to negotiate a code of conduct, a plan dating as far back as 2002. But progress has been slow despite commitments by all parties to advance and expedite the process.

China stakes its claim on its maps with the use of a “nine-dash line” that loops as far as 1,500 km south of its mainland, cutting into the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. A 2016 international arbitral tribunal ruling invalidated most of China’s claims, a decision that Beijing has rejected.

All claimants, except Brunei, have stationed troops in the respective islands they are claiming as their own in the disputed waterway through which more than $5 trillion in goods passes annually.

Indonesia, although not among the claimant countries in the South China Sea, is a major power within the regional bloc.

President Marcos Jr. and Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed their commitment to finally come up with a code of conduct when they met at the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in 2022.

A legally binding code is expected to ease tension and lessen the chance for military confrontation in the area while enhancing confidence building measures among the claimant countries.

VELOSO CASE

Manalo said he reiterated Manila’s request for executive clemency for Filipina Mary Jane Veloso who has been in prison in Indonesia since