Global Times reported on July 15, 2017, that Indonesia had reportedly renamed the northern reaches of its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea as the North Natuna Sea. It quoted Chinese experts as saying that "as a country which has no territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea, Indonesia is aiming to gain a bargaining chip for maritime boundary delimitation, and the move would do no good to future maritime cooperation". Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a daily briefing on July 14, that the name South China Sea had broad international recognition and clear geographic limits, adding "Some countries' so-called renaming is meaningless … We hope the relevant country can meet China halfway and properly maintain the present good situation in the South China Sea region, which has not come easily." Wang Xiaopeng, an expert on maritime and border studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Global Times "Indonesia has no territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea but have had clashes over fishing rights and oil and gas exploitation around the regions of the South China Sea where the two have not yet finished the maritime boundary delimitation." He said "No party should complicate the situation before bilateral talks on the issue and Indonesia's move would do no good to future maritime cooperation on the South China Sea. Indonesia should know that the trend to deal with the South China Sea issue via peaceful means is inevitable. There is no way for it to change the situation especially when major claimants have agreed to control disputes." Chen Xiangmiao, a research fellow with the National Institute for the South China Sea, told the Global Times that "Indonesian President Joko Widodo has always taken a tough stance on implementing the country's maritime strategy. There have been reports about Indonesia expelling and detaining fishermen from China and Vietnam. Aside from lodging diplomatic protests, China should add presence in the South China Sea by strengthening resources exploitation and launching exchanges with neighboring countries on economic development and dispute control." An Indonesian expert on the Law of the Sea at Indonesia's Universitas Gadjah Mada was quoted by Reuters as saying that the renaming carried no legal force but was a political and diplomatic statement: it will be seen as "a big step by Indonesia to state its sovereignty."
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