Indonesia rejects China’s offer for East Sea talks
Huong Tra – VOV’s correspondent in Jarkarta, Indonesia -
(VOVWORLD) - Indonesia on Friday rejected a Chinese offer for negotiations on the South China Sea (called the East Sea in Vietnam), as Jakarta reiterated that it had no overlapping claims with Beijing in its exclusive economic zone.
The Chinese government, in a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday, acknowledged it had no territorial dispute with Indonesia but said the two countries had overlapping claims over maritime rights in parts of the East Sea.
“Based on UNCLOS 1982, Indonesia does not have overlapping claims with the People’s Republic of China, so it is not relevant to hold any dialogue on maritime boundary delimitation,” Damos Dumoli Agusman, the director general of global law and treaties at Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.
He was referring to a January 2020 statement from the ministry confirming that Indonesia had no territorial dispute with Beijing in the East Sea based on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
China’s claims to the EEZ on the grounds that its fishermen have long been active there have no legal basis and have never been recognized by UNCLOS, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry said.
Huong Tra – VOV’s correspondent in Jarkarta, Indonesia