Indonesia, which is not a claimant country in the South China Sea (SCS) issue, vows to work for peace and stability in Southeast Asia, and wants to turn all potential conflicts into an exercise in joint cooperation in managing the resources of the SCS, says the foreign minister.

“Everybody is worried about the latest situation in South China. We will turn potential conflict into cooperation, which is not new to us. We hope that the South China Sea will turn into a stable and calm region,” Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said in her opening remarks at the High Level International Workshop on “Managing the South China Sea Conflict from ASEAN Perspective” in Jakarta on Friday evening.

The one-day workshop was organized by Jakarta-based Center for Southeast Asian Studies. Ministers, ASEAN secretary-general Le Luong Minh, senior officials, several eminent scholars from foreign countries and Indonesia, diplomats, defense attaches of foreign embassies and public figures attended the gathering.

… “The South China Sea issue is no longer about an issue of territory or sovereignty. It has become a geo-political issue,” Ralf Emmers, a well respected expert on SCS from the Singapore-based S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said.