THE ROAD TO PEACE IN SOUTH CHINA SEA: THE ROLE OF INDONESIA THROUGH ASEAN

The disputes occur after the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea decides the rights and responsibilities of nations to undersea resources in adjacent waters; it pushes some nations throughout the world to expand their control over the seas or even to claim. In the South China Sea, the Paracel Islands and the Spratly Islands are in dispute that involves China, Taiwan, and several ASEAN member countries such as Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. South China Sea is one of the most important waterways in the world with abundant oil, natural gas reserves, fisheries and marine resources, so it has strategic value whether it facilitates economic or security activities throughout Asia. However, the disputes have threatened other country’s citizen activities near the disputed territory. This paper aims at analyzing how Indonesia through ASEAN responds to the South China Sea as the territorial dispute. Since 1992, ASEAN Declaration on the South China Sea called on all nations to settle disputes peacefully and support regional cooperation as a diplomatic solution without any sovereignty settlement issues. Some parties argue that ASEAN’S approach ofdiplomatic engagement is not solution in this complex situation. While many countries try to use ASEAN to protect their interests in the South China Sea, Indonesia plays some roles in the South China Sea disputes like the facilitator of mediations, mediator and the leading role in establishing legally binding Code of Conduct (CoC) as a possible solution through ASEAN. Keywords: ASEAN; Indonesia; South China Sea.