Jokowi to Discuss South China Sea Dispute at ASEAN Summit

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government predicted that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo would highlight stability issues at the 29^th ASEAN Summit held in Vientiene, Laos.

“Issues to be discussed at the [ASEAN] Summit are generally related to stability,” Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said as quoted from a press release issued by the Cabinet Secretariat on Wednesday, September 7, 2016.

Retno added that the region stability would be discussed since ASEAN had been proud of its stability and there were a number of border issues that occurred over the last few months.

“The first issue is the situation in the South China Sea. The second one is the situation in the Korean Peninsula. And the third one is the situation in the Sulu sea,” she explained.

President Jokowi has been scheduled to attend the 19^th ASEAN-China Summit, the 19^th ASEAN-Japan Summit, the 18^th ASEAN-Korea Summit, the 19^th ASEAN Plus Three (China, Japan and South Korea) Summit, the 2^ndASEAN-Australia Summit, and the 8^th ASEAN-UN Summit.

Prior to departure to Laos, Retno confirmed that the South China Sea issue would be likely discussed at the ASEAN Summit this year. She said that Indonesia would continue to maintain good relationships with countries involved in the South China Sea dispute.

One of Indonesia’s counterparty in connection with the territorial dispute is China, which believes that the territory bordering with the Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone or Natuna waters is included in its traditional fishing region since their ancestors’ era.

However, the Indonesian government argued that the international maritime law, as stipulated by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands, does not acknowledge such traditional fishing region. Indonesia has also planned to give a new name to the territory to establish its ownership.

ISTMAN M.P.