JAKARTA
– Indonesia’s foreign minister says the country has protested against what it
described as an infringement of its waters by a Chinese coast guard vessel near
a disputed area of the South China Sea over the weekend.

Foreign
minister Retno Marsudi met Chinese embassy representatives in Indonesia’s
capital of Jakarta after the incident involving a Chinese coast guard vessel, a
Chinese fishing vessel, and an Indonesian patrol ship in the northern Natuna
Sea.

“At
the meeting we conveyed our strong protest (over) … the breach by the Chinese
coast guard of Indonesia’s sovereign rights,” Mr Marsudi told reporters in
a press conference.

China claims vast swaths of
the South China Sea, where several Southeast Asian countries also have
overlapping claims.

However, Indonesia
remains non-claimant, but has raised concerns over China’s inclusion of the
resource-rich Natuna Islands in its so-called “nine-dash line”.

China says
that it does not dispute Indonesia’s sovereignty over the Natuna Islands.

– Reuters