Indonesia president visits Natuna islands amid dispute with China

Jan. 8 (UPI) -- Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo visited Natuna Regency, an archipelago of hundreds of islands in the southern South China Sea on Wednesday, according to local press reports.

The Indonesia-administered islands are at the center of national attention following the presence of Chinese vessels in the area last week, the Jakarta Post reported Wednesday.

Widodo, who was re-elected in 2019, made the trip to the Natuna islands Wednesday morning, meeting with the area's governor and Indonesia's Joint Defense Area Command commander Rear Adm. Yudo Margono, according to the report.

"Our military forces will remain unchanged," Yudo said.

Yudo also said more deployments are being planned.

"We will deploy four additional warships -- two of them arrived on Monday, while two others are still being transported. So in total, we will have deployed six warships," he said.

Indonesia and China are in a dispute over Beijing's naval activities in Indonesia's exclusive economic zone, or EEZ.

Last week, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the Chinese ships were carrying out "routine" activities to lay claim to the Spratly Islands.

Indonesia has rejected any historical Chinese claims over the North Natuna Sea, the country's name for the area of the southern South China Sea where Chinese activities are ongoing.

China's claims are "unilateral, had no legal basis and had never been recognized by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea," Indonesia said, a possible reference to China's "nine-dash line," or Beijing's claim to 90 percent of the contested waters in the South China Sea.

On Wednesday, Widodo said the central government would do more to support the welfare of Indonesian fishermen living in the Natuna islands, according to news service Tempo.

"This will be supported by the government. We've spent a lot, and it should be beneficial for all," he said.