T

he government once again looked to be playing it safe with China, a country currently in the world spotlight over a number of important regional and global issues, such as the South China Sea and the civil war in Syria.

Following recent discord among member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which was inflamed by maneuvers from Chinese forces in the region’s disputed waters, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono opted not to openly defend the interests of
Indonesia’s Southeast Asian partners when he met with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Friday.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa was tight-lipped when asked about the details of his discussion with Jiechi concerning the same issue.

“The [South China Sea] issue that we discussed took place in a private setting, so I have no right to disclose the details of the discussion,” Marty told reporters following the meeting with Jiechi at his office late on Friday.

However, Marty did maintain that any approach adopted to resolve the South China Sea issue had to be “special”, particularly given the complexities involved and the number of countries affected.

“Regarding the South China Sea, we all need to be wiser now, in the sense that we should not conduct ‘megaphone diplomacy’ or make unilateral public statements,” the minister said.

“The issue needs to be managed within the confines of calm and steady diplomatic efforts. Our approach must be measured and effective. It will need all of us to adopt that kind of mind-set.

“I hope in the months to come there will be fewer public statements that could have a detrimental effect,” he added.

Marty did, however, claim that his meeting with Jiechi had resulted in positive progress. “Having met and enjoyed a very positive discussion with Minister Jiechi, I feel much better this afternoon than I did this morning, as I have been assured that diplomatic channels are now open,” he said.

“Our discussion was useful for me in order to ascertain where China stands [on the issue] and to better understand China’s world view, so that we can put ourselves in their shoes. In that way, we can try to build bridges between the parties with vested interests in the South China Sea,” Marty added.

Jiechi only briefly referred to the South China Sea in his statement, which was delivered during a joint press briefing with Marty.

“To maintain regional peace and stability in the South China Sea is the shared of responsibility of all the countries in the region. China is willing to work with Indonesia and other ASEAN countries to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea,” Jiechi said.

Yudhoyono, meanwhile, reiterated to Jiechi his concerns over the long-running Syrian crisis, which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians.

The President had delivered a statement two weeks ago, only hours after Russia and China vetoed for the third time a Western-backed UN Security Council resolution that threatened Syrian authorities with sanctions if they did not desist in using heavy weapons or withdraw their troops from towns and cities.

Yudhoyono slammed the failure, which he put down to “debates about who will lead [Syria] in the future”, while the situation in the Middle Eastern country continued to worsen.

Marty, who accompanied Yu-dhoyono in the meeting with Jiechi, said the President had been blunt with the Chinese minister .

“The President conveyed his views regarding this matter in a decisive and straightforward way. He impressed upon the Chinese minister the necessity for the UN Security Council to take concrete action to establish peace in Syria,” he said.

Also on Friday, Marty and Jiechi co-chaired a second meeting of the Indonesia-China Intergovernmental Joint Committee on Bilateral Cooperation at the Foreign Ministry in Central Jakarta.