Indonesia tells South China Sea claimants to avoid using military force

From InterAksyon (May 23): Indonesia tells South China Sea claimants to avoid using military force

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called on all claimants to disputed territories in the South China Sea to avoid using military force in pressing their claims.

In his joint statement with President Benigno Aquino III on Friday, Yudhoyono said claimants should return to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea or the DOC, to which China is also a signatory.

Yudhoyono, who is on a State Visit to Manila while also attending the World Economic Forum-East Asia, said all parties should endeavor to hasten the crafting of the Code of Conduct, which will be a binding document to govern overlapping maritime claims among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

"There are challenges [at] the geopolitical level in East Asia, and South East Asia is filled with tension, including in the South China Sea. The position of Indonesia and the position of Asean is clear: any tension must be resolved peacefully without the use of military force," Yudhoyono said.

"It is time to call upon all parties who have interests to maintain order and stability in the region," the Indonesian leader added.

His statement comes on the heels of a flurry of comments at the WEF-East Asia, mainly from Vietnam and the Philippines, about China's increasing aggression in the South China Sea, where it placed an oil rig in territory claimed by Vietnam and well within the latter's EEZ, and protested Manila's arrest of poachers of endangered sea turtles off Palawan province.

Vietnam's Prime Minister said Thursday Hanoi was mulling over "legal actions" and other defense options against Beijing, which has ignored its please to move out despite repeated representations.

Model for resolving border rows

Yudhoyono cited the recently signed agreement on the delimitation of boundaries between ASEAN neighbors Indonesia and the Philippines, which have overlapping exclusive economic zones in the Celebes and Mindanao Seas, as a model of how to resolve border disputes peacefully.

Aquino described the document, signed by Jakarta and Manila officials with him and Yudhoyono as witnesses, as a "milestone agreement."

The text of the agreement and the accompanying chart with delimited boundaries was finalized recently, after two decades of spade work between the two countries, which enjoy a long history of comity as two of the five original ASEAN founding members.

Indonesia helped broker the 1996 historic peace agreement in Mindanao between the Fidel Ramos government and the Moro National Liberation Front. Years earlier, when President Benigno Aquino's mother Corazon ascended to power after the 1986 EDSA People Power revolt, it was Indonesia that first welcomed her government to ASEAN's summit.

Referring to the accord that he and Yudhoyono witnessed in Manila Friday, Mr. Aquino said: "This is a milestone agreement that is founded on the principles of international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas. It serves as solid proof to our steadfast commitment to uphold the rule of law and pursue the peaceful and equitable settlement of maritime concerns."

The President also expressed confidence that by 2016, Jakarta and Manila will be able to double bilateral trade, which stood at $3.51 billion last year.
"We both share the belief that much more can be done to maximize the prospects of equitable growth," Aquino said.

Yudhoyono said an agreement was also reached as part of preparations for a forum for business communities from both Indonesia and the Philippines to sit together and discuss investment opportunities.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/87459/indonesia-tells-south-china-sea-claimants-to-avoid-using-military-force