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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin. Photo: ANTARA / HO-MFA / mii
jpnn.com, BEIJING – China said one of its boats normally patrolled in the waters under its jurisdiction. The statement was a response to Indonesia’s report that Chinese coast guard vessels had entered the Indonesian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
“China’s rights and interests in the relevant waters of the South China Sea are clear,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a press conference on Tuesday (9/15).
According to the head of the Indonesian Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla), Vice Admiral Aan Kurnia, the Chinese patrol boat entered the EEZ 200 miles off the coast of the northern Natuna Islands on Saturday (9/12) and the Monday (9/14) after radio communications.
Under international law, foreign ships can pass through a country’s EEZ, but Aan said the ships were too long in the Indonesian EEZ.
“As it floated, then circled, we got suspicious, we got closer and discovered that it was a Chinese coast guard ship,” he told Reuters, adding that the navy and the coast guard would increase operations in those waters.
Indonesia changed the name of the northern part of its EEZ in 2017 to the Natuna North Sea, rolling back China’s maritime territorial ambitions.
Although China does not claim the islands, the presence of its coast guard almost 2,000 kilometers from its mainland has alarmed Indonesia, after numerous encounters between Chinese ships in Malaysia, the Philippines and the Vietnam EEZ, which disrupted fishing and energy activities .
A week-long stalemate occurred 10 months ago when a Chinese coast guard ship and accompanying fishing boat entered the North Natuna Sea, prompting Indonesia to send in fighter jets and mobilize its own fishermen. .
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