Indonesia wants this CoC to be effective, substantive, and actionable.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Director General of ASEAN Cooperation Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia (Kemlu RI) Sidharto R. Suryodipuro stated on Friday (10/3/2023), ratification of the South China Sea Code of Conduct (COC) roadmap is expected. conducted at the 42nd ASEAN Summit (Summit) in May 2023. He admitted that he was quite optimistic because he saw the discussion at the ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) on Wednesday (8/3/2023),
“Since Wednesday the joint working group for CoC started to discuss the follow-up to the DoC, there have been meetings in that context to discuss the draft CoC itself,” said Arto referring to the Declaration of Conduct (DoC) signed in Cambodia in November 2002.
This feeling of optimism emerged from the first draft issued by Indonesia, then the various inputs received, plus the discussions that were carried out. The next step will be starting the second draft, if there are still sharp differences, then there will be another meeting before the 42nd ASEAN Summit.
“So we hope that all these differences can be resolved,” said Arto.
Meanwhile discussing the challenges of the CoC, according to Arto, Indonesia does not want it to just be a document. This CoC is considered to be effective, substantive, and actionable.
“We in ASEAN agree with the CoC, it must be international law of the sea and international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” said Arto.
Arto emphasized that in the context of the CoC that was raised, it did not discuss ownership of the area. Wetting carried out in content is more in the waters of the South China Sea, not ownership.
The previous agreement, DoC serves to present a set of mechanisms or rules of conduct for countries with an interest in the South China Sea. The early code of ethics is expected to prevent potential conflicts from breaking out as a result of overlapping claims.
Source: Republika
