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akarta is treating Friday’s seizure of a Chinese trawler in the Natuna Sea as another incident of poaching. Beijing has responded with anger, insisting that the vessel did nothing illegal.

China lodged on Monday a “stern” protest against Indonesia over the arrest of the Gui Bei Yu 27088, saying that “both countries have different views about the waters where the incident happened.”

“A Chinese fishing boat was carrying out normal production activities there,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying as quoted by Reuters.

The Indonesian Navy seized the vessel and arrested its eight crew members on Friday night after it entered Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone in the resource-rich Natuna Sea off the northwest coast of Kalimantan.

The Navy’s Western Region Fleet Command (Koarmabar) commander, Rear Admiral Achmad Taufiqoerrochman, said the arrest should serve as a warning to the world that the Indonesian Military would not tolerate any breach of Indonesian sovereignty by foreign vessels.

The latest row follows a confrontation between the two countries in the same area in March, when a Chinese coast guard vessel rammed another Chinese fishing vessel, the Kway Fey 10078, to release the boat from Indonesian custody after it had been seized by the Indonesian authorities.

But unlike the previous kerfuffle, which saw the Foreign Ministry formally protest the involvement of the Chinese coast guard to Beijing’s representatives in Jakarta, the Indonesian government has limited its response to Friday’s alleged poaching incident.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut B. Pandjaitan played down the incident by saying that relations with Beijing were back to normal and that the dispute had been “resolved customarily”.

The government will not beef up its defenses in the region in anticipation of repeat offenses, Luhut insisted.

“There will be none of that because everything is business as usual. If a violation occurs, we detain and process the perpetrators. If they are to be released, then they will be,” he told reporters.

The Foreign Ministry has also refrained from risking further tensions with China. The country is one of Indonesia’s biggest trading partners.

The ministry has, in effect, kept calm in the wake of another possible violation of Indonesia’s sovereignty.

Ministry spokesperson Arrmanatha Nasir avoided a direct response to the maritime tussle, choosing instead to emphasize Beijing’s right of consular access to the eight detained crewmen of the Gui Bei Yu.

Arrmanatha insisted, however, there was no special treatment for China in regards to fishery disputes, saying that vessels from China or any other country found violating Indonesia’s jurisdiction would be detained.

“This is part and parcel of the Indonesian Navy’s law enforcement process. Anyone found to be in violation will be taken in by the Navy,” he told reporters, adding that the legal process was still ongoing.

Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said people should not make generalizations between the two incidents.

“The problem should be solved through legal proceedings,” said Ryamizard. “Let’s not exaggerate it as if we are in a spat with China. Building good ties is hard.”

— Marguerite Afra Sapiie contributed to this story