Malaysia Toughens Stance With Beijing Over South China Sea

Malaysia Toughens Stance With Beijing Over South China Sea

National security minister says Malaysia will protest “intrusion” of Chinese Coast Guard vessel


A Malaysian ship approaches a ship belonging to the Chinese Coast Guard in the South China Sea on March 15, 2014 in Kuantan, Malaysia. Malaysia said Monday it will protest a recent “intrusion” of a Chinese Coast Guard ship into its waters north of Borneo.

 KUALA LUMPUR—Malaysia said Monday it will protest what it called the intrusion of a Chinese Coast Guard ship into its waters north of Borneo, an unusually assertive step by the country amid tensions in the South China Sea.

“This is not an area with overlapping claims. In this case, we’re taking diplomatic action,” National Security Minister Shahidan Kassim said in an interview, adding that Malaysian Prime MinisterNajib Tun Razak will raise the issue directly with Xi Jinping.
Malaysia has generally taken a low-key approach in South China Sea disputes, in contrast to that of the Philippines and Vietnam, which have both railed against perceived Chinese expansionism in disputed areas. 

The three Southeast Asian countries claim parts of the sea, as do Brunei and China.
Last week, Mr. Kassim posted pictures on his personal Facebook page of what he said showed a Chinese "law-enforcement" ship anchored at Luconia Shoals, an area of islets and reefs about 150 kilometers north of Malaysian Borneo—well inside the approximately 400-kilometer exclusive economic zone claimed by Malaysia. 

The shoals are about 2,000 kilometers from mainland China.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesmen Hong Lei said Monday he was unfamiliar with Malaysia’s claim that a Chinese ship was anchored at Luconia Shoals.
China claims about 90% of the South China Sea. 

Luconia Shoals lie near the southern extreme of the so-called Nine-Dash Line, which China uses to demarcate its territorial claim.
Beijing has never defined the precise extent of its claim, however, and the Philippines is attempting to have the Nine-Dash Line declared illegal at an international tribunal in The Hague.
The Luconia Shoals are “rich in oil and natural gas,” Mr. Kassim noted in his Facebook post.
Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein sounded the alarm over the worsening South China Sea disputes at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore last month, warning that “if we are not careful, it could certainly escalate into one of the deadliest conflicts of our time, if not our history.” 

The summit was monopolized by discussion of China’s island-building activities in contested waters.
China dispatched a three-ship flotilla to James Shoal, another area claimed by both China and Malaysia around the southern limit of the Nine-Dash Line, in January 2014 for the second time in a year. 

At the time, Malaysian officials denied local media reports that the country was planning to build a new military base on Borneo to counter the growing Chinese threat.
Malaysian Armed Forces Chief Gen. Mohd. Zin criticized China at last month’s Shangri-La Dialogue for keeping its neighbors guessing about its intentions. 

“We do not know what they are trying to do [in the South China Sea],” he said. 

“It would be good if China can come out publicly and announce what they are doing.”