Indonesia to summon Chinese envoy over vessel confrontation in the South China sea.The incident happened on Saturday when the surveillance vessels chased and caught a Chinese fishing boat allegedly operating in waters near Indonesian Natuna Islands without a permit, Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said.
As the Chinese fishing boat was being towed away by the Indonesians, a Chinese coast guard vessel approached and collided with the fishing boat.
A bigger Chinese coast guard vessel approached later and the Indonesians decided to leave the fishing boat, she said.
"We respect a big country like China, and China should also respect the sovereignty of Indonesia and respect that we are at war with illegal fishing," Pudjiastuti told reporters.
She urged the foreign ministry in Jakarta to lodge a "strong protest" over the "arrogance" of the Chinese vessels.
The fisheries ministry will summon the Chinese envoy in Jakarta, the minister's spokeswoman confirmed to AFP.
Pudjiastuti said she believed the Chinese coastguards stopped the boat from being towed away to prevent it from being sunk.
Since taking up her position as fisheries minister in 2014, Pudjiastuti has launched a crackdown on illegal fishing, blowing up and sinking numerous impounded empty foreign vessels caught fishing without a permit.
Beijing voiced concern last year after Indonesia destroyed an impounded Chinese fishing vessel.
Jakarta had objected China's nine-dash line because the line overlaps with Indonesia's exclusive economic zone around Natuna, a string of islands rich in fish on the far northwest fringe of the archipelago.
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