JAKARTA: Indonesia could take China before an international court if Beijing’s claim to the majority of the South China Sea and part of Indonesian territory is not resolved through dialogue, Indonesia’s security chief said Wednesday.
Beijing’s claim to almost the entire South China Sea is shown on Chinese maps with a nine-dash line that stretches deep into the maritime heart of Southeast Asia, including parts of the Indonesian-held Natuna islands.
Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei also claim parts of the waterway. The Philippines has already taken China to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, a case Beijing refuses to recognise.
Indonesia believes China’s claim over parts of the Natuna islands has no legal basis.
“We are working very hard on this. We are trying to approach the Chinese,” Luhut Panjaitan told reporters. “We would like to see a solution on this in the near future through dialogue, or we could bring it to the International Criminal Court.”