This Island Chain Is the Latest Flashpoint In the South China Sea Dispute

When the Indonesian Navy allegedly opened fire on a Vietnamese fishing boat late last week, the fishermen could be forgiven if they didn't know, exactly, where they were. When they motored passed the southern tip of Con Dao Island, some 245 kilometers from Indonesia, they were heading toward a body of water most call the South China Sea.

But on 14 July, Indonesia renamed the southern-most end of the South China Sea the "North Natuna Sea," as the government of President Joko Widodo reasserted its territorial sovereignty over the waters off the coast of the Natuna Islands chain. Suddenly, the fishing vessel was in waters that Indonesia believes are clearly its own.

The Indonesian Navy came across two fishing boats during its patrol of the North Natuna Sea. When the boats tried to flee, the KRI Wiratno fired a "warning shot" to scare them off, the Navy's spokesman, First Admiral Gig Jonias Mozes Sipasulta, told VICE. He denied claims that the Navy's warship shot anyone on the boats.

"We only gave a warning shot since the Vietnamese boat approached the patrolling navy vessel," the spokesman said. "It's not true that we shot them multiple times."

The incident, which is still disputed by the Indonesian government, was just the latest sign of rising tensions in the southern-most waters of the South China Sea. Indonesian officials have previously clashed with Vietnam's Coast Guard in the waters north of Natuna—an area at the center of Indonesia's war to combat illegal fishing.

Indonesia is building a massive military base in the island chain, which is expected to begin operations by the end of the year. The base will, according to Indonesia's Minister of Internal Affairs Tjahjo Kumolo, "completely change the face of Indonesia," upon its completion.

And President Jokowi has taken to staging huge military drills in Natuna, already holding two this year that involved thousands of military personnel in what could only be seen as a show of force. "Whether on land, in the sky, or on water, our military force is ready when the nation needs it," the president told local media while watching the most-recent drill.

Indonesia's powerful military said the base, and the drills, are necessary to ensure the country's claim over the waters off Natuna remains intact. But defense experts said they were only making things worse by dragging the country into disputed waters where Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and China have all laid their own territorial claims to all or part of the sea.

"Indonesia is now no longer can say it holds a neutral, objective position in the South China Sea," said Hikmahanto Juwana, a defense expert at the University of Indonesia. "Indonesia would be better off maximizing oil and gas exploration over there instead."

Chinese officials were less-than-stoked over Indonesia's decision to rename part of the South China Sea. The country's Minister of Foreign Affairs dismissed any efforts to call the body of water the "North Natuna Sea" outright in a press conference.

"The so-called change of name makes no sense at all and is not conducive to the effort to the international standardization of the name of places," ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said. "We hope relevant country can work with China for the shared goal and jointly uphold the current hard-won sound situation in the South China Sea."

The name "North Natuna Sea" started to appear on Indonesian maps sometime in mid-July. Indonesia's Office of the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs said the main reason the country decided to release a new map was a change in the territorial borders of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Palau. It was then, as the ministry prepared the new map, that government officials decided to call the sea the "North Natuna Sea," the ministry's deputy coordinator for maritime sovereignty told local media.

"There have been a series of oil and gas activities under the names North Natuna and South Natuna," Arif Havas Oegroseno told local media. "For clarity and consistency, the national team have agreed to rename the waters as the North Natuna Sea."

That mention of oil and gas activities is key to understanding Indonesia's willingness to enter the fray on the South China Sea dispute. In the press, the Indonesian government talks a lot about the plight of fishermen and how better funded foreign fishing companies are stealing the nation's stocks. The government, by their argument, is patrolling the seas off Natuna to protect the little guy—Indonesian fishermen.

But the seabed beneath those waters is also one of the largest unexplored natural gas fields still left in the world. The gas field has long been considered too difficult to develop, but the country is still pushing forward with state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina in charge of the project. The gas field could produce as much as 16 million metric tons of liquified natural gas (LNG) per year, according to some estimates.

Indonesia currently suffers from natural gas shortages. Existing reserves in Aceh and East Kalimantan are nearly tapped out. But the Natuna field could provide the country with all of its LNG for nearly 18 years, according to one estimate. Energy sovereignty is one of Jokowi's passion projects, so it's no surprise that his administration started to talk about the Natuna gas fields—and any potential disputes with China—early on.

"We do not recognize China's nine-dash line and its claims of a traditional fishing zone," Luhut Pandjaitan told Reuters back in 2016. "Natuna is our territory. We want stability in the area."

Back then, Luhut was in charge of national security. So where is Luhut today? He's the country's top maritime affairs minister—a position that puts him in direct control of Indonesia's vast maritime territory and at the forefront of the "North Natuna" controversy.

But one expert warned against reading too much into the whole Natuna thing. Nothing the country has done is necessarily a sign of force, said Tirta Mursitama, an International relations expert at Universitas Bina Nusantara.

"The deployment of military power in Natuna is an exercise to strengthen the borders and not necessarily related to South China Sea conflict," Tirta said. "China should also understand that this is not necessarily an offensive move."