Indonesia will continue to push for efforts towards peace in the South China Sea."
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia will continue to encourage the settlement of the agreement on the Code of Conduct (CoC) to overcome disputes in the South China Sea, an official of the Foreign Affairs Ministry said here on Thursday.

"Indonesia will continue to push for efforts towards peace in the South China Sea. One of them is settling the CoC agreement between China and ASEAN," Director of ASEAN Cooperation I Gusti Agung Wesaka Puja stated.

The code of ethics for dealing with the South China Sea disputes must be immediately framed and agreed upon to maintain stability in the region, Puja added.

"The consensus reached during a discussion on the South China Sea issue at the ASEAN Summit was that we would continue to maintain stability in the region by accelerating the settlement of the CoC," he revealed.

Puja further noted that several countries had expressed concern over the process being followed by a certain country trying to reclaim the South China Sea.

In view of this, he pointed out that the Indonesian government would encourage all parties involved in the South China Sea dispute to exercise restraint.

According to the ministry official, at the ASEAN Summit held in Malaysia recently, President Joko Widodo had emphasized on the importance of commitment to maintain and improve stability in the region, which is capital for sustainable development.

He said that the Indonesian government had also asked China to provide a clarification regarding the nine-dash line it had made to mark its territory in the South China Sea.

"The clarification is important to prevent unilateral claims," he remarked.

It is believed that the "Nine-Dash Line" made by China to mark and claim its water territory in the South China Sea has the potential to trigger a wider conflict, he observed.

"Therefore, we will try to appeal to them to settle and clarify it, as well as territorial claims made by others," he affirmed.

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Reporting by Yyuni Arisandy

(T.Y012/H-YH/INE)

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