REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Following the failure of ASEAN Ministerial Meeting to issue a joint statement on the South China Sea issue, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa is looking forward to meet the visiting China's foreign minister on the next couple of days.
"Besides bilateral issue, I hope we can compare notes on where we are on South China Sea," Natalegawa said on Tuesday.
He added that the issue demanded the collective and command approach from ASEAN and China. "Otherwise, there will be much tension ahead of us," he said.
ASEAN, he continued, had not had any formal approach to China as the main undertaking in Phnom Penh was to agree on draft element and to begin consultation and communication with China. ASEAN at the Phnom Penh meeting has identified the key element of the key element of code of conduct for South China Sea. Indonesia, he said, would develop that code of conduct.
"I'm not in the business of looking for appropriate or inappropriate time and condition, what I know for certain that the situation today needs code of conduct," he said firmly. It can manage the conflict and even prevent the future potential conflict.
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