Jakarta, Sept. 14, (dpa/GNA) – Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday it had lodged a protest with China over the presence of a Chinese coastguard ship in its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea.
The Chinese vessel was first spotted over the weekend off Indonesia’s Natuna Islands, according to the Indonesian Maritime Security Agency, the country’s coastguard.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said Jakarta had sought an explanation from the Chinese embassy about the presence of the ship.
“We reiterated to the Chinese deputy ambassador that Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone does not overlap with Chinese waters,” Faizasyah said.
He said Indonesia rejected China’s claim to nearly all of the South China Sea, insisting that it violated the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Indonesian coastguard spokesman Wisnu Pramandita said the ship had claimed to be patrolling Chinese waters.
“The ship refused to leave after we told them that the area was part of Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone,” he said.
It finally left the area at noon on Monday, he said.
Indonesian and Chinese vessels have had stand-offs before in the resource-rich waters.
In January, Indonesia sent four F-16 fighter jets to the Natuna Islands after dozens of Chinese fishing and coastguard vessels entered the area.
One of the worst was in March 2016 when a Chinese coastguard vessel rammed into an Indonesian patrol vessel as it was towing a Chinese fishing boat caught fishing in the Natuna Sea.
Indonesia does not see itself as party to the South China Sea dispute, but Beijing claims historic rights to parts of that sea overlapping Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone.
GNA