From:
http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2130258/us-may-upset-beijing-after-it-backs-indonesian-claim-south< Edited >
In 2002, Indonesia renamed the section of the South China Sea within its EEZ the Natuna Sea, except for the waters north of the Natuna Islands.
And in 2015, it called upon the US to help host military exercises near the sparsely populated archipelago.
With the latest name change, South China Sea is no longer used for any part of Indonesia’s territorial waters.
While
China recognises Indonesian sovereignty over the Natuna Islands, it insists the two countries have overlapping claims to maritime rights and interests in the area that still need to be resolved – a claim that Indonesia rejects.
Immediately after the name change, China expressed opposition to the move, saying changing an “internationally accepted name” resulted in the “complication and expansion of the dispute, and affects peace and stability” and will not be “conducive” for the peaceful relationship between Jakarta and Beijing.
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Natuna Islands: Indonesia says no 'overlapping' South China Sea claims with ChinaWed 22 Jun 2016, 6:49 PM AEST
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-22/no-overlapping-claims-with-china-in-indonesian-waters-says-fm/7534498?pfmredir=smIndonesia's Foreign Minister has rejected China's stance that the two Asian nations have overlapping claims in the South China Sea, where there has been a run of skirmishes between Indonesian navy ships and Chinese vessels.
Indonesia is not part of a broader regional dispute over China's reclamation activities in the South China Sea and Beijing's claims on swathes of key waterways.
On Monday, China's Foreign Ministry said the two nations do not have any territorial disputes, but there were some overlapping claims on "maritime rights and interests".
But Jakarta has objected to China's inclusion of waters around the Indonesian-ruled Natuna Islands within a "nine-dash line" Beijing marks on maps to show its claim on the body of water.
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Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on Monday that the nation would be more assertive in protecting its exclusive right to the waters around the Natuna Islands.
Despite this more assertive stance, Ms Retno said relations between the two countries remained good.
"This is a matter of law enforcement, not politics," she said.
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