Indonesian patrol ships drove a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) coast guard vessel away from a survey vessel in the South China Sea in late October 2024, Indonesia’s Maritime Security Agency reported. It was the third such incident in a week.
A video distributed by the agency showed the Indonesian ship following the CCP vessel, which Beijing claimed was patrolling within its own jurisdiction.
However, Indonesia’s Coast Guard and Navy noted that the nation has sovereign rights to explore and exploit natural resources in the internationally recognized Indonesian Continental Shelf without interference. The Chinese ship entered Indonesian waters and disrupted the Indonesian vessel’s seismic survey and data processing, Indonesian Coast Guard Capt. Yuhanes Antara told the state news agency.
In the first confrontation, Indonesian authorities said the CCP ship was detected near the survey vessel MV Geo Coral. An Indonesian patrol ship contacted the Chinese vessel, whose crew maintained the area was within the People’s Republic of China’s jurisdiction, before Indonesian Coast Guard and Navy ships drove the ship away.
Two days later, the Chinese ship again approached the survey site and was driven away, officials said.
“Indonesia’s Maritime Security Agency will continue to show its commitment to maintaining security and enforcing the law in Indonesian waters and Indonesian jurisdictional areas,” the agency stated.
The CCP’s sweeping and arbitrary claims in the South China Sea overlap with part of Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that extends from the Natuna Islands. The CCP also has territorial disagreements in the sea with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Some disputes have turned violent, most notably with CCP coast guard vessels repeatedly confronting Philippine boats delivering supplies to military outposts within Manila’s EEZ.
An international tribunal in 2016 rejected the CCP’s claims as legally invalid, but Beijing continues to disregard the ruling.
Jakarta has become increasingly protective of its rights in the South China Sea as CCP ships have regularly entered the area Indonesia calls the North Natuna Sea, fueling tensions between the countries.
