Indonesia’s foreign ministry has filed a formal complaint with China over alleged violations of the Indonesian EEZ in the vicinity of the Natuna Islands, one of the many regional flash points in the conflict over sovereignty in the South China Sea.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea based on historical Chinese activity in the region, not on international law. The claim’s boundaries are defined loosely by Beijing’s “nine-dash line” chart, and they extend hundreds of miles south of the recognized Chinese EEZ boundary. UNCLOS restricts EEZ claims to 200 nm from the nation’s own shores.