Indonesian navy vessels Friday harassed and shot at Chinese fishing boats that were operating normally in China's traditional fishing grounds near the Natuna Islands in the South China Sea, with one boat detained and one crew member injured. China's foreign ministry strongly protested the abuse of force. Yet the Indonesian side responded harshly, saying its navy "made the right move by maintaining the sovereignty of our seas." 

The Natuna Islands are in the waters outside the nine-dash line. But the 200-mile exclusive economic zone claimed by Indonesia overlaps with the waters within the nine-dash line by 50,000 square kilometers, an area with ocean currents and abundant fishing resources. To become a maritime power, the Indonesian government has heavily cracked down on illegal fishing and recently detained and destroyed fishing boats from several countries. Chinese fishermen are often implicated.

Indonesia hasn't opposed China publicly over the South China Sea and the two sides have kept a low key in overlapping waters. The latest incident may not target China. But Indonesia used a harsh manner probably because it thinks that Beijing, facing multi-faceted challenges over the South China Sea, is unwilling to have conflicts with it.

China is indeed in a dilemma. No reaction to Jakarta's rudeness can hardly satisfy China's domestic public opinion but may make Jakarta think shooting Chinese boats is not a serious matter. But a strong reaction from China would highlight the discord between the two and push Indonesia to edge closer with the Philippines to even become a new resource at US disposal in the South China Sea. This does no good to China as Indonesia is the largest ASEAN country.

It is no easy task for today's China to safeguard its sovereignty in the South China Sea and defend the nine-dash line. As the US strategically squeezes China, many Southeast Asian countries have shown delicate initiative in dealing with their China relations.

It's a hard decision to make for China to either steadfastly counter those that intend to jeopardize our interests or to act humbly toward whatever provocations until it realizes rejuvenation.

We need to balance strong will, wisdom and patience to not lose our territory and meanwhile grasp the historical opportunities of peaceful development.

In the latest spat with Indonesia, China should make utmost efforts to defend our rights since the Indonesian navy's shooting violates the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea.

In March, it was reported that a Chinese coast guard vessel rammed an Indonesian patrol ship to stop it from seizing a Chinese fishing ship. Such resolute action of the grass-roots coast guard should be encouraged.

Meanwhile, China should deal with the incident in a low-key manner as long as Indonesia doesn't escalate it. Keeping friendly bilateral ties is in the interests of Jakarta. Neither side is begging favors from the other. It should be our firm attitude.

Frequent shooting at Chinese fishing boats will result in serious consequences sooner or later. Indonesia has to be mature if it aims to be a big power. Confrontation between Chinese and US warships happens occasionally, but there is never any shooting.