REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Following the launch of the country's new map, the Indonesian government has denied a rumor of renaming the South China Sea to the North Natuna Sea, Maritime Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan stated here, Tuesday.

"We have no intentions of renaming the South China Sea. The Indonesian government is only dealing with the waters under its territory," the minister remarked after opening the National Technology Congress 2017 in Jakarta, Monday.

Pandjaitan further explained that the authority is currently updating its map, mainly on its 200-mile-long exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf.

"We are studying the 200-mile zone in the Indonesian waters," he noted.

Meanwhile, in Beijing, spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Geng Shuang claimed to have not yet received detailed information on the issue.

Amid the dispute over the international waters, any attempt at renaming the sea is "meaningless," Shuang remarked.

"Certain countries' so-called renaming is totally meaningless. We hope the relevant country would meet China mid-way and properly maintain the present sound situation in the South China Sea region, which has not come easily," Shuang said in a daily news briefing as quoted from Reuters.

Despite the critics, the Indonesian minister has refused to give any response.

"We will take a further look," Pandjaitan stated.

The ministry's Maritime Sovereignty Deputy I Arief Havas Oegroseno had revealed the country's new map following developments in the international law and the implementation of maritime borders with the neighboring countries.

During the launch, the northern waters of Riau Province's Natuna Island were named the North Natuna Sea.

Oegroseno later explained that the waters were being renamed in accordance with some oil and gas explorations launched in the country's territory.

Also read: Indonesian govt inaugurates the name of North Natuna Sea

Until now, Oegroseno said some explorations conducted in the waters had acknowledged the presence of the North Natuna Sea, South Natuna Sea, or Northeast Natuna in the project blueprints.

"Hence, to ensure certainty with regard to the perception of the continental shelf, the authority has agreed to rename the waters as the North Natuna Sea," he pointed out.

Based on the old map in 1953, the South China Sea covered some waters under the Indonesian territory, including the area near Java Island.

"The tip of Java Sea that borders Karimata Strait was classified as the South China Sea (according to the 1953 map)," he pointed out.

However, the authority has currently updated the map and renamed some of the waters under the Indonesian territory.

In 2002, the government had named the waters near the Natuna Island as the Natuna Sea, but oil and gas explorations conducted in the 1970s had begun showing the area as the North Natuna Sea.

Oegroseno said the Indonesian government has the authority to rename its waters in the nation's interests.

Meanwhile, to be internationally acknowledged, the authority will further report to some special forums, including the International Hydrographic Organization.

Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika