Context: Recently, the Chinese fishing fleets have been seen raiding the rich waters of the South China Sea that are internationally recognised as exclusively Indonesia’s to fish which worried Fishers in Natuna islands say they feel vulnerable with Beijing’s presence in South China Sea becoming more aggressive.

Concerns

• Backed by Chinese coast guard ships, Chinese fishing fleets have been raiding the rich waters of the South China Sea that are internationally recognised as exclusively Indonesia’s to fish.
• The Chinese steel trawlers scrape the bottom of the sea, destroying other marine life. So not only does the Chinese trawling breach maritime borders, it also leaves a lifeless seascape in its wake.
• The latest episode occurred in February 2020, fishers said, when Chinese boats flanked by coast guard vessels dropped their trawl nets yet again. It seemed as if the coronavirus outbreak peaking in China at the time hadn’t diminished the country’s global ambitions.
• Wary of offending its largest trading partner, Indonesian officials have played down incursions by Chinese fishing boats. But with the Chinese presence growing more aggressive, fishers in the Natunas are feeling vulnerable.
• China’s illegal fishing near the Natunas carries global consequence, reminding regional governments of Beijing’s expanding claims to a waterway through which one-third of the world’s maritime trade flows. But local leaders in the Natunas don’t control what happens near their shores.
• The Chinese fishers are helping feed the country’s growing appetite for seafood by trawling the South China Sea. But they are also serving a broader purpose. Beijing wants Chinese fishers to operate there because their presence helps to embody China’s maritime claims.

About South China Sea

• The South China Sea is an arm of western Pacific Ocean in Southeast Asia.
• It is south of China, east & south of Vietnam, west of the Philippines and north of the island of Borneo.
• Bordering states & territories (clockwise from north): the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam.
• It is connected by Taiwan Strait with the East China Sea and by Luzon Strait with the Philippine Sea.
• It contains numerous shoals, reefs, atolls and islands. The Paracel Islands, the Spratly Islands and the Scarborough Shoal are the most important.

Importance of South China Sea

• It is a key commercial thoroughfare connecting Asia with Europe and Africa, and its seabed is rich with natural resources. One third of global shipping, or a total of US$3.37 trillion of international trade, passes through the South China Sea.
• About 80 per cent of China’s oil imports arrive via the Strait of Malacca, in Indonesia, and then sail across the South China Sea to reach China.
• The sea is also believed to contain major reserves of natural resources, such as natural gas and oil.
• The US Energy Information Administration estimates the area contains at least 11 billion barrels of oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Other estimates are as high as 22 billion barrels of oil and 290 trillion cubic feet of gas.
• The South China Sea also accounts for 10 per cent of the world’s fisheries, making it a key source of food for hundreds of millions of people.

About Natuna Islands

• The major island and reef formations in the South China Sea are the Spratly Islands, Paracel Islands, Pratas Islands, Natuna Islands and the Scarborough Reef.
• The Natuna Regency is an archipelago of 272 islands located in the south part of the South China Sea in the Natuna Sea.
• Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the coast of Natuna is slightly overlapped by China’s widely disputed South China Sea claim.