Malaysia will press on with oil exploration in South China Sea waters that China also claims, its prime minister said on Thursday, adding that an investigation had been launched into the publication of what a media outlet said was a Chinese diplomatic note expressing “strong dissatisfaction” with Malaysia over the work.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer, in a story published last week, cited what it said was a Chinese diplomatic note of Feb. 18, in which China accused Malaysia of infringing upon its sovereignty at the Luconia Shoals – an oil-rich area in the South China Sea that both countries claim.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, while not confirming the veracity of the note, said an inquiry had been launched into its publication, and he defended Malaysian exploration in the waters.
“We have made it clear that what we are doing with oil exploration is within our own waters,” Anwar said on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia. “We've informed Beijing, and they've sent a few protests, claiming those areas as theirs.”
“We’ve explained that we must proceed as it concerns our economic survival,” he said.
The shoals are 100 kilometers (52 nautical miles) off the coast of Malaysia’s Sarawak state, on Borneo island, well within its exclusive economic zone, or EEZ, where Kuala Lumpur has jurisdiction over natural resources and the state company Petronas has been operating for years.
But they also lie within the so-called nine-dash line that Beijing draws on its maps to claim “historical rights” over most of the South China Sea.
The reported Chinese diplomatic note, apparently obtained by the Philippine news outlet from an unidentified Malaysian journalist, expressed “serious concern” and “strong dissatisfaction” over Malaysia’s oil and gas exploration projects in the area and asked that Malaysia immediately stop those activities.
The newspaper said the note was a taste of the bullying that China’s neighbors including the Philippines are facing.
‘Open for discussion’
Six parties – Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam – hold overlapping claims in the South China Sea.
China has not commented on the reported diplomatic note but its foreign ministry and representatives overseas often send diplomatic notes to protest against other countries’ activities in maritime areas it claims.
While the Philippines is pursuing a more assertive approach in dealing with China by publicizing what it says are Chinese acts of aggression against its vessels, Vietnam and Malaysia have adopted a more measured approach, rarely criticizing in public but preferring to use diplomatic channels and closed-door negotiation.
Anwar insisted that “operations continue at one or two major wells within our territory.”
“We will respond to China and explain our position, that we never intended to be in any way provocative or unnecessarily hostile,” he said, adding that his government was “open to continuing discussions, whether bilaterally, multilaterally, or within the context of ASEAN” about the South China Sea.
“China is a great friend,” he said. “This should not harm the bilateral relationship between the countries.”
Malaysia’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday that it had “consistently underscored the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of diplomatic communication” with other countries and considers the unauthorized dissemination of such documents “an irresponsible act.”
This is the second time this year that the Malaysian foreign ministry has requested investigations into leaked diplomatic notes.
In February, a confidential diplomatic note on a consular issue dated Sept. 20, 2023, and reportedly from the Moroccan government to the Malaysian Embassy in Rabat, was leaked on social media.
The ministry said it had expressed regret over that incident but the leak had not originated from internal sources.
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Iman Muttaqin Yusof and Muzliza Mustafa in Kuala Lumpur contributed to the story
Edited by Mike Firn.