Indonesia, Defying Beijing, Seizes Fishing Boat in South China Sea

Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement released on Sunday that the fishing boats were operating in “China’s traditional fishing grounds” in the South China Sea.

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JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia is holding the crew of a Chinese fishing boat it says was fishing illegally last week in the South China Sea, an official confirmed on Monday. It was the third maritime skirmish — all involving shots — between the two countries in the past three months.

The latest episode occurred on Friday when Indonesian warships challenged a group of Chinese fishing boats operating within Indonesia’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone off the Natuna Islands, northwest of Borneo, said Atmadji Sumarkidjo, a spokesman for Indonesia’s Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs.

The Indonesian Navy fired warning shots to get the fishing boats to halt, which the Chinese say injured one sailor, and confiscated one boat and detained its seven-member crew, Mr. Atmadji said. The crew was taken to the Natuna Islands, he said. The injured person was not one of those detained and was treated on the Chinese island of Hainan.

“Like the previous incidents, the Chinese ships were fishing in the area that we claim is part of our E.E.Z.,” Mr. Atmadji said, referring to the exclusive economic zone. “The navy pursued them, and they tried to run away and did not obey our instructions to stop.”

Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement released on Sunday that the fishing boats were operating in “China’s traditional fishing grounds” in the South China Sea. The statement said that the boats were “harassed and shot by several Indonesian naval vessels.”

China lodged a diplomatic protest to Indonesia after the episode, the statement said. A spokesman for the Indonesian Foreign Ministry was not immediately available for comment.

In March, a Chinese Coast Guard vessel forcibly recovered a fishing boat that had been confiscated by Indonesia near the Natuna Islands by ramming the boat. The boat’s eight Chinese crew members, already on an Indonesian ship, were detained after being accused of fishing illegally. The Indonesian authorities had fired warning shots at the boat, using small arms to force it to stop.

In May, the Indonesian Navy fired shots at a Chinese fishing boat and detained its eight-person crew, also in the region of the Natuna Islands, on suspicion of fishing illegally.

In China, people expressed outrage over the episode and urged the government to do more to stand up to Indonesia.

“You call yourself a big and strong nation, but how come a small country like Indonesia dares to slap your face?” a user wrote on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter.

Another user posted, “Where’s the hawkish faction in the military? It’s your turn to make an appearance now.”

The episodes come amid rising tensions in the region, where China has territorial disputes with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam — four members of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, known as Asean.

Members of the group have increasingly expressed concern about China’s aggressive posture in the South China Sea, including naval standoffs and land reclamation projects in disputed areas, and the stationing of military personnel and surface-to-air missiles in the Paracel Islands — which are controlled by China, which claims ownership, but are also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam.

An international arbitration body in The Hague is expected to rule in the coming weeks on a case that the Philippines has filed over China’s claims in the South China Sea.

Indonesia is not a claimant in the South China Sea disputes, but China’s contentious nine-dash line, which marks its territorial claims to around 90 percent of the South China Sea, appears to overlap with part of Indonesia’s maritime exclusive economic zone around the Natuna Islands, according to analysts.

Since 1994, Indonesia has sought clarification from China about whether the nine-dash line included the Natuna Islands or Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone around them.

Last November, China publicly recognized Indonesia’s sovereignty over the Natuna Islands but did not address the issue of the exclusive economic zone.

The Chinese statement released on Sunday said that the latest skirmish occurred in an area “where China and Indonesia have overlapping claims for maritime rights and interests.” The statement accused Indonesia of violating international law, including the United Nations Convention on theLaw of the Sea.

In the past, the Indonesian government had played down such episodes or kept them under wraps, as China is Indonesia’s largest trading partner. But Jakarta this year has been more aggressive in defending its exclusive economic zone, given that one of the key policies of Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, is to combat illegal fishing and turn the country into a maritime power.

(Source : nytimes.com)

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