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News:China has been illegally fishing in the Natuna Islands area which is internationally recognized as Indonesia’s exclusive zone.
Facts:
- The Natuna Islands is located in Indonesia’s Riau Islands province, the west side of the South China Sea.
- The Island overlaps with China’s nine-dash line claim under which China argues that the waters around the Natuna islands are Chinese traditional fishing grounds.
Additional Facts:
South China Sea:
- The South China Sea is an arm of western Pacific Ocean in Southeast Asia.
- Border Countries: People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam.
- Importance: It holds tremendous strategic importance for its location as it is the connecting link between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean(Strait of Malacca).
- Dispute: China claims the South China Sea based on the nine-dash line which stretches hundreds of miles south and east from its most southerly province of Hainan covering the strategic Paracel and Spratly island chains.
