evidence: JAKARTA - If there is a country that intersects the Indonesian nation the most today, it is China. The escalation of territorial disputes in the Natuna Sea, Riau Islands raises the tension of the Indonesian people towards China when fishing boats with red-star flags routinely steal fish escorted by their coast guard vessels. Worse, China is reluctant to recognize the Natuna exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as part of the South China Sea region. [...] DPR RI Commission I member Charles Honoris also touched on the rawness of China's historical claims. "China's historical claim to Indonesia's EEZ on the grounds that Chinese fishermen have been active in Natuna for a long time is not recognized by UNCLOS and has also been countered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration decision in 2016," he explained. [...] On the 12th (March 1831, ed.), At dawn, this part of the archipelago (Natuna) which is generally marked with the North Natuna, appears in our observations. The main island of the archipelago is called Pulau Laut by the local population, and is no more than 8 miles in length from the northeast as the northern end to the southwest as the southern end.