Asean chair Indonesia to intensify talks on code for South China Sea
- A proposed code of conduct to tackle territorial and maritime disputes in the waterway has stalled for years due to ties with China
- Indonesia is preparing to host a round of negotiations on the code this year, the first taking place in March, the foreign minister said
Indonesia plans to intensify talks with China and other Southeast Asian countries to finalise a code of conduct for the disputed South China Sea, its foreign minister said on Saturday, amid escalating tensions in the strategic waterway.
Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi was speaking in Jakarta at the close of a meeting between foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the 10-member regional bloc chaired by Indonesia this year.
“Asean’s outlook on the Indo-Pacific was central to the discussion”, she said. “We also discussed about the code of conduct, the commitment of members to conclude the negotiation of the code as soon as possible”.
Negotiations on the code – a proposed framework to help tackle territorial and maritime disputes in the waterway – have stalled for years as some members states prioritised bilateral ties with China over a regional consensus.
Indonesia is preparing to host a round of negotiations on the code of conduct this year, the first taking place in March, the foreign minister said.
China claims jurisdiction over almost the entire South China Sea based on its U-shaped “nine-dash line”, a boundary found to have no legal basis by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in 2016.