Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Thursday (5/9) that his country would not stop oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea despite Beijing's claims that Malaysia had violated its territory.
Anwar said Malaysia's exploration activities were within its territory and were not intended to provoke or antagonize China, which has friendly relations with Malaysia.
“Of course, we have to operate in our waters and secure economic benefits, including oil drilling, in our territory,” Anwar said in a televised press conference in Vladivostok, Russia, where he is on an official visit.r area.”
“We never close the door to discussions (with China). But that doesn't mean we have to stop operations in our region,” he added.
Malaysia's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday (4/9) that it would investigate the leak of a confidential diplomatic note from China's Foreign Ministry.
In the memo, carried by Philippine news outlets, Beijing asserted that Malaysia's oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea violated its territory.
China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, including parts of the 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. China's actions have complicated energy exploration efforts by some of those countries.
Under international law, the EEZ does not determine territorial sovereignty, but grants sovereign rights to a country to utilize natural resources from those waters.
Malaysia's state energy company Petronas, or Petroliam Nasional Berhad, operates oil and gas fields in the South China Sea in Malaysia's EEZ. Petronas has had several encounters with Chinese vessels in recent years.
Anwar said China had sent “one or two” letters of protest to stop Malaysia's oil exploration activities, without elaborating. However, he stressed that the government would continue to explain its position to Beijing.
“We have said that we will not violate other people's borders. That is our firm policy and principle,” he said.
“They know our position…. They claim that we are violating their territory. That is not the case. We said no, that is our territory.”
“However, if they continue to dispute, well, we have to listen, and they have to listen too.”
An international arbitration tribunal in The Hague ruled in 2016 that China’s claims to about 90 percent of the South China Sea, made through a U-shaped “nine-dash line” on its maps, had no basis under international law. Beijing has refused to recognize the ruling. (ft/rs)
