Malaysia won't stop South China Sea exploration, despite China protests says PM

Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia's Prime Minister, said that the country would not stop oil and gas exploration on the South China Sea in spite of Beijing's claims that Malaysia had infringed on its territory.

Anwar, who is currently in Russia on an official visit, stated that Malaysia's exploration was within its own territory, and it wasn't meant to be provocative towards China.

Anwar stated in a Vladivostok televised news conference that "we will of course have to operate within our waters in order to secure an economic advantage. This includes drilling for oil on our territory."

"We never denied (the possibility of discussing with China)." "But that doesn't mean the operation has to be stopped in our area."

Malaysia's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that it will investigate the leaked diplomatic note of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Beijing claimed in a note carried by a Philippine newspaper that Malaysian oil and gas exploration was encroaching on its territory.

China claims sovereignty in almost all of the South China Sea. This includes parts of the exclusive economic zones (EEZs), which are 200 nautical miles long, of the Philippines and Brunei. It also includes parts of the EEZs of Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam. This complicates energy exploration efforts of several of these countries.

According to international law, a EEZ doesn't denote sovereignty. Instead, it grants a sovereign right for exploitation of natural resources in those waters.

Petronas (or Petroliam Nasional Berhad) is the Malaysian state-owned energy company that operates oil and natural gas fields within Malaysia's Exclusive Economic Zone. It has had many encounters with Chinese ships in recent years.

Anwar stated that China sent "one or more" protest letters to Malaysia to stop its oil exploration activities. He did not specify the details but said that the government will continue to explain to Beijing their position.

"We have stated that we won't cross other peoples' borders. "That is our strict policy and principles," said he.

"They know where we stand .... They claim that we have infringed on their territory. This is not true. "No, this is our territory," we say.

"But, if they keep on arguing, we'll have to listen to them, and they'll have to hear us."

In 2016, an international arbitration tribunal at The Hague ruled that China's claim of about 90% of South China Sea via its "nine-dash lines" on maps had no legal basis in international law. Beijing did not accept this ruling. Reporting by Rozanna latiff in Kuala Lumpur and Danial Azhar; Editing by John Mair and Martin Petty

(source: Reuters)