A

mid rising tensions in the disputed South China Sea, claimed in most part by China, efforts to seek peace have become part of Indonesia’s defense diplomacy, Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said on Wednesday.

He said Indonesian defense diplomacy was implemented through a friendly approach to the four great powers in the Indo-Pacific region: the United States, China, Russia and ASEAN.

“One of the positive impacts we feel from this is [...] the calm situation in the South China Sea,” Ryamizard said at the opening ceremony of the 2nd Indonesia International Defense Studies Seminar (IIDSS) in Jakarta.

The South China Sea issue was among the topics raised at the seminar, which was opened by Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto.

Ryamizard said the Indo Pacific region, as a Strategic Maritime Axis, lay between the north of the South China Sea and North Natuna waters, with trading routes entering throught the Malacca Strait and then continuing to the south through the Sunda Strait and the Indian Ocean. The route is valued at some US$5.3 trillion each year, making it the world’s third-largest trade route.

“We always talk about this [South China Sea] every year. How to maintain security, to stay away from provocation,” he said. “I don’t want to just talk, I want a concrete solution.”

He said he had lobbied his Chinese counterpart for an ASEAN-China joint maritime patrol in the South China Sea.

“They [the Chinese] said the South Chinese Sea is our backyard that we need to guard together,” he said.

“We will have the joint patrol this year, that is what a soft power approach is like.”

Meanwhile, speaking in a personal capacity, Haryo Budi Nogroho, the deputy assistant to the presidential special envoy for maritime delimitation between Indonesia and Malaysia, said Indonesia acted as an honest broker, being a non-claimant.

He said Indonesia had contributed positively to confidence building measures, which resulted in the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea in 2002.

Indonesia sponsored second track workshops, firstly initiated by senior diplomat Hasjim Djalal, as an opportunity for claimants to address common concerns without touching on the issues of sovereignty and delimitation, he added. Haryo said such concerns covered transfer of technology, sharing information, the rising sea level and ocean acidification.

“We hope Indonesia will continue to play this role as an honest broker to facilitate the delayed conclusion of a Code of Conduct,” he said.

He said many often forgot that the dispute in the South China Sea could impact non-claimants, given that it was a strategic area for submarine cables and that environmental problems also concerned all countries in the region.

Another issue raised in the seminar was Indonesia’s multilateral diplomacy that could be made tangible and provide real benefit to the people.

Darmansjah Djumala, Indonesian ambassador to Austria, who is also the chairman of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors, said nuclear could bring actual benefit to Indonesian people.

Even though Indonesia had yet to have nuclear power, there was potential, Darmansjah said.

“We have had 47 years of planning, we have had the law regulating it since 1997 and we have more than 1,000 experts,” he said, “and not many people know that we have 77,000 tons of potential uranium reserve.”

Other sessions on the first day of the IIDSS discussed a wide range of issues such as the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and tackling transnational crimes in ASEAN. In a session covering sustainable resources development, two speakers discussed the use of renewable energy and off-grid systems to develop infrastructure in Indonesia’s remote and border areas.

On Thursday, speakers at the two-day seminar will discuss various issues on tackling terrorism and separatism, best practices in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and challenges posed by media and information warfare.