KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Tuesday that Beijing had expressed concerns about the energy activities of Malaysian state firm Petronas in the South China Sea, even though Kuala Lumpur believes the projects are on its territory.
Anwar’s remarks come after he opened the door to negotiations with China earlier this week, in reference to the growing pressure on Malaysian energy operations in waters that Beijing claims to be its own.
China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, through which $3 trillion worth of shipborne trade passes annually. Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have some overlapping claims.
Petronas operates oil and gas fields within Malaysia’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and in recent years has had several encounters with Chinese vessels.
Responding to a parliamentary question about his discussions on the South China Sea during his visit to China last week, Anwar said that China is concerned that “Petronas has carried out significant activity in an area also claimed by China.”
“I stressed … that Malaysia considers the area to be Malaysian territory and therefore Petronas will continue its exploration activities there,” Anwar said, without specifying a marine project or location.
But Anwar said Malaysia is open to negotiations “if China feels it is its right,” adding that the ASEAN bloc feels the overlapping claims should be resolved through negotiations.
Petronas declined to comment and the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur could not be reached for comment.
China claims its territory via the “line of nine divides” on its maps, which cut through the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.
However, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in 2016 that the nine-dash line, which extends up to 1,500 kilometers off its coast, has no legal basis.
The US think tank, the Asian Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), said last week that a Chinese coast guard vessel had been operating for the past month near the Petronas gas development at Kasawari off the Malaysian state of Sarawak, and approached the project within 1.5 miles. AMTI said a Malaysian navy ship was in the area.
The Kasawari field contains an estimated 3 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves and is expected to start production this year.
On Monday, China’s foreign ministry said it was not aware of the specific incident but said the behavior of the Chinese coast guard was indescribable.
In his parliamentary remarks, Anwar said that China believes its ships are in international waters.
Anwar said the Malaysian Foreign Ministry would issue a protest note in the event of a “collision” between Malaysian and Chinese vessels there.
(Reporting by Rosanna Latif) Written by A. Ananthalakshmi; Edited by Martin Beatty
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
“Subtly charming student. Pop culture junkie. Creator. Amateur music specialist. Beer fanatic.”