Indonesia will mobilise fishermen to join warships in the South China Sea to help defend against Chinese vessels, the government said on Monday, as the biggest stand-off with China for years escalated off southeast Asia's largest country.
In an unusually strong statement, President Joko Widodo told reporters: "There is no negotiation when it comes to our sovereignty."
looks like the bipolar Russian is wrong again lol
Dont worry my friend you can always ask me the illiterate talking baboon to educate you. lol
The stand-off in the northern Natuna islands, where a Chinese coastguard vessel has accompanied Chinese fishing vessels, has soured the generally friendly relationship between Jakarta and Beijing.
Indonesia's chief security minister, Mahfud MD, told reporters that around 120 fishermen from the island of Java would be sent to the Natuna islands, some 600 miles to the north.
"We want to mobilise our fishermen from the north coast and maybe in turn from other areas to operate by fishing there and other things," Mr Mahfud said.
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Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, said last week it was sending more warships to the area. Six Indonesian ships were there now and four more were on the way, Imam Hidayat, the head of the Maritime Security Agency's sea operations sub-directorate, told Reuters.
claims much of the South China Sea, a global trade route with rich fishing grounds and energy reserves, as its own based on what it says its historic activity. But Southeast Asian countries – and the US and much of the world – say such claims have no legal basis.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-a9273621.html