Ministries and agencies of the Indonesian Government havecontinually held meetings over the last few days following China’s entry intothe Southeast Asian country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

A map showing the northern waters of the Natuna Islands - Photo: Reuters

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and SecurityAffairs Mahfud MD chaired a closed meeting at this ministry’s headquarters onJanuary 3. 

The meeting’s content was not publicised, but informationsources confirmed that the event was to discuss measures to cope with China’sclaims over the waters near the Natuna Islands.

Issues on the northern waters of Natuna became the IndonesianGovernment’s concern after the country’s authorised forces discovered manyfishing boats escorted by China’s coast guard vessels trespassing Indonesia’sEEZ.

In the face of this situation, many opinions in theIndonesian parliament called for a maritime security law to be adopted and theIndonesian Maritime Security Agency’s jurisdiction to be enhanced to defend thecountry’s waters against China’s activities.

Source: VNA