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Indonesia speaks on ‘war’ with China

Published

5 years ago

January 6, 2020

Indonesia has denied being at war with China amid diplomatic spat.

However, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, Mohammad Machfud, told newsmen that the country will not tolerate border violations by any country.He noted that the diplomatic spat is between Jakarta and Beijing over maritime rights in the southern reaches of the South China Sea.

NAN reports that Indonesia summoned the Chinese ambassador in Jakarta recently after it accused dozens of Chinese fishing and coastguard vessels of trespassing into its exclusive economic zone off the Natuna islands.

Jakarta also sent additional warships and personnel to patrol the waters in the southern tip of the disputed South China Sea.

China said its fishermen’s activities in the waters were “legal and legitimate.”

“A foreign country can’t enter our territory even an inch without the government’s approval.

“We are not at war; we are simply protecting our sovereignty.

“But there’s no negotiation because the area is ours and it is final under international law,” Machfud told newsmen.

Indonesia has said China’s claims that the area is historically part of its fishing grounds have no legal basis under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.