05 10 2024
China urges Malaysia to halt activities immediately in the oil-rich waters off Sarawak.
Beijing has called on Malaysia to immediately cease all activities in an oil-rich area off the coast of Sarawak, despite Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s efforts to ease tensions with China through more conciliatory diplomatic language. According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the demand was delivered through a protest note sent to the Malaysian embassy in China last week, which the publication also shared.
The document accuses Malaysia of encroaching on areas claimed by China under its contentious “10-dash line” map, which asserts Chinese sovereignty over much of the South China Sea. It also voiced Beijing’s dissatisfaction with Malaysia’s oil and gas exploration near the Luconia Shoals, known locally as Gugusan Beting Raja Jarum and referred to by China as “Nankang Ansha” and “Beikang Ansha.” Despite the reefs being just 100 kilometers from Sarawak and almost 2,000 kilometers from mainland China, Beijing insists on its claims.
“The Chinese side once again urges the Malaysian side to truly respect China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime interests, and immediately stop the aforementioned activities,” the Inquirer quoted from the Chinese foreign ministry’s note.
MalaysiaNow has reached out to Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan for comment on the matter. Malaysia and China are among seven nations with territorial claims in the South China Sea, including Brunei, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. China has been asserting its military presence in the region to reinforce its territorial claims over the entire South China Sea.
Malaysia’s national oil company, Petronas, operates within the country’s exclusive economic zone and the Luconia Reefs, which China claims as part of its territory under the “nine-dash line,” later revised to the “10-dash line” to include additional areas near Taiwan. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled the nine-dash line illegal in 2016.
This latest warning from China comes less than three months after Anwar referred to China as a “true friend,” in what seemed to be an attempt to soften Beijing’s hardline stance on its territorial claims.
