The collision occurred after the Indonesian patrol ship intercepted what it claimed was an illegal Vietnamese fishing boat in its waters, its navy said, according to ABC News. Unverified video footage appears to show armed crew from the Indonesian vessel shouting at the Vietnamese coast guard after it rammed the Indonesian ship. The video, which has been widely shared across social media, includes Indonesian men shouting insults such as “dog”, “pig” and “you die”, according to ABC News.
Following the skirmish 12 Vietnamese fishermen were detained from the boat, which sank after the clash.
The detainees are being housed at a naval base “for further legal proceedings” the commander of Indonesia Western Fleet, Rear Admiral Yudo Margono, said.
The navy commander meanwhile said Vietnam’s coast guard rescued two others.
According to a statement by Rear Admiral Margono the clash occurred in waters off Indonesia’s Natuna islands chain, which is in the southernmost region of the contested South China Sea.
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He said: “The location of the arrest was actually in Indonesian waters.
“But the Vietnamese also claimed that the area was Vietnamese waters.”
China has wide-ranging territorial claims in the South China Sea which span the breadth of the strategic waters.
The superpower views Taiwan as a renegade province that “must be united with the mainland by force if necessary”.
Beijing’s hostile attitude towards Taipei often manifests itself within the important and strategic South China Sea and in particular the Taiwan Strait.
Indonesia, the world's largest archipelagic nation, also has a claim over the contested ocean region.
Jakarta has sunk hundreds of supposedly illegal fishing vessels from Vietnam, the Philippines, China and other nations since 2014 as part of efforts to exert greater control over its vast maritime territory.
Indonesia renamed the waters North Natuna Sea in 2017 in a bellicose move riling China, which claims most of the South China Sea and is in dispute with many Southeast Asian nations including Brunei over the competing maritime stretch.
Indonesia does not have a territorial dispute with China, but Beijing's claims overlap with Indonesia's internationally recognised exclusive economic zone extending from the Natuna islands.
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April 30, 2019 at 08:25AM
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