Natuna Islands

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.