Indonesia is usually pretty quiet about their giant neighbor to the north but fishing is pretty importan to a country made up of, what, 17,000 islands.
From AFP vis the South China Morning Post, July 4:
- The move comes after Jakarta lodged a ‘strong protest’ over what it sees as Chinese incursions into its territorial waters
- Beijing says that it has ‘historic rights’ in the disputed waters and that Chinese fishing boats had been carrying out ‘legal and reasonable’ activities
Indonesia is stepping up sea and aerial patrols of islands near the disputed South China Sea, an official said on Saturday, following a diplomatic spat over “trespassing” Chinese vessels.
Military aircraft and three warships with some 600 navy, army and air force personnel have been deployed to waters around the Natuna islands, which border the South China Sea.Indonesia has detained Chinese vessels in the fishing-rich waters in the past.“Territorial violations by foreign vessels in Indonesian exclusive economic zone … is a threat to Indonesian sovereignty,” defence commander Vice Admiral Yudo Margono said in a statement.
The move comes after Indonesia summoned the Chinese ambassador this week and lodged a “strong protest” over a Chinese coastguard vessel escorting Chinese fishing boats around the islands in mid-December. Indonesia’s Maritime Security Agency said at least 63 Chinese fishing boats and coastguard vessels had entered the country’s territorial waters without authorisation....MUCH MORE
...2) The confluence of China's aging population, with its demographer's (and western retiree's) lament of "I got old before I got rich", and China's rising militarism; seriously have you ever really studied their claims within their "Nine-dash line" map:
Borneo (shared with Malaysia and Brunei) is going to be the new capital of Indonesia when they move the government from Jakarta.
