NATUNA, INDONESIA –
Japan has been beefing up its fishery-related aid to Indonesia’s remote Natuna Islands in the southern part of the South China Sea, likely in hopes of curbing China’s influence in the area.
Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone around the islands partially overlaps with the waters surrounded by the “nine dash line” unilaterally claimed by China, a contentious maritime boundary that encompasses most of the South China Sea.
Tokyo, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency, plans to provide aid for the development of a fish market in Ranai, the central city of Bunguran Island, the largest of the Natuna Islands.
AloJapan.com