Jakarta has protested to Beijing over “interference” in its sovereign affairs after a Chinese coast guard vessel sought to free a fishing boat and its crew that was suspected of operating within Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea.
Susi Pudjiastuti, Indonesia’s minister of maritime affairs and fisheries, said yesterday that eight crew of the Chinese vessel had been detained and the government had summoned representatives from the Chinese embassy to discuss the alleged infringement.
Ms Pudjiastuti said there had been a chase in which a Chinese patrol boat had collided with the fishing vessel in an attempt to release it, putting passengers and Indonesian officers at risk.