‘Let Asean tackle sea incident’

JAKARTA, Indonesia (via PLDT)—Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Tuesday suggested that the Reed Bank incident involving the harassment of a Philippine oil exploration vessel by Chinese patrol boats could be discussed at the upcoming meeting with East Asian leaders at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) leaders’ summit to be chaired by Jakarta.

Speaking at a joint press conference here with visiting President Aquino on Tuesday, Yudhoyono said he was hoping the South China Sea does not become “an area of open conflict.”

“In Indonesia’s view, if there is an attainment of a solution that we can agree on the issues of territories, I’m sure it is open for opportunities for cooperation and no doubt we will hope that the South China Sea does not become a place of open conflict but in fact become a zone of potential economic cooperation,” he later told reporters.

“That is my hope…(once) it will be attained, the issue of South China Sea will bring benefits to Indonesia and also to all of us,” he added.

At the joint press briefing, Mr. Aquino ruled out any “unilateral action” by the Philippines on the Reed Bank incident, saying joint exploration of the Spratlys with other claimant countries should continue.

“With regard to joint exploration, that is an idea that has been proposed a few decades past but perhaps we should continue the talks with other claimant countries. There is no room for unilateral action in that particular region,” he said.

“Because if we did unilateral action, it does not resolve the issue. Hopefully, with the like mind that this is a common problem and a common opportunity at the same time, we will be able to move a little bit more forward in terms of utilizing the resources in that particular region for the benefit of all the claimant nations,” Mr. Aquino said.